Harry Potter and Me
by QuidditchMoke
Summary: Bad title, I know. Who doesn't want to be a part of Harry Potter's world? Well, as my first HP fic, I wrote myself into it. It's scenes from the books and lots we haven't seen before. (Btw, they improve a LOT after the first two.) R&R!
1. The Troll

A/N- this is the first chapter of my first Harry Potter fic and I am soooo nervous about what people will think! Please review!

Basically, this is a series of scenes from the books, but I wrote myself into them. Not exactly a new storyline, but it was fun.

Disclaimer- Well, actually, I came up with the idea for Harry Potter first, and made the mistake of blabbing it to a woman on an elevator when I was in the U.K. Now I just let her take the credit out of kindness. So, she owns it, but I'm writing it the way I had planned it to be.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

            "Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

            They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.

            "I've just though – Hermione."

            "What about her?"

            "She doesn't know about the troll."

            Ron bit his lip.

            "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

            They were about to turn the other way when someone grabbed the back of Harry's robes.

            "Where are you two going?" It was an American voice that spoke, coming from Tina Gupta. (changed my name) She was an Indian girl with waist-length black hair now put into a thick braid, and greenish grey eyes that flashing with a mixture of suspicion and amusement.

            Ron began to stutter.

            "We…um….we were just…er…"

            "Going to sneak off to help someone else." Tina finished for him. "It's okay, I won't tell your brother. But I'm coming with you."

            Ron opened his mouth to protest but Harry stopped him.

            "That's fine," he said. "Actually, it's better. We last heard she was hiding out in the girls' bathroom, so if she's still in there, you could get her." Tina grinned in an almost flattered way.

            Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

            "Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry and Tina behind a large stone griffin.

            Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

            "What's he doing? Harry whispered.

            "And why isn't he down in the dungeons with the other teachers?" asked Tina.

            "Search me." Ron muttered.

            Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

            "He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

            "Can you smell something?"

            Harry and Tina sniffed and a foul stench reached their nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. Tina pulled her robes up to her nose and waved her hand in front of her face.

            And then they heard it – a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed—at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

            It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on  top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. (Tina looked about ready to faint but determined not to) It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

            The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

            "The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

            "Actually," began Tina. "I really don't think--"

            "Good idea," said Ron nervously.

            The two boys edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it.

            "_Yes!"_

            Flushed with their victory, they started to run back to Tina who was looking terrified, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop—a high, petrified scream—and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.

            "Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

            "I tried to tell you," Tina's voice was shaking.

            "It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.      

            "_Hermione!"_ the three of them cried.

            It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and the ran inside.

            Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall, opposite, looking as if she were about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

            "Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron and Tina, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

            The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

            "Oy, pea brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. Despite the current situation, Tina giggled. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard Ron's yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards him instead, giving Harry time to run around it.

            "Come on, run, _run__!_" Tina yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but Hermione couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror. "Hermione, please, come _on_!"

            The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Tina, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Her eyes grew wider and she backed up, breathing fast, unable to scream.

            Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had wstill been in his hand when he'd jumped—it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

            Recovering from the fright she had been experiencing seconds ago, Tina gave a great whoop and clapped her hands gleefully, then began hitting the troll on its leg with her wand; angry red boils sprouted all along its leg, and a great purple sunflower on its foot.

            Howling with pain of the wand still lodged up its nasal cavity, the troll twisted and flailed it club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

            Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand—not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

            The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over—and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

            Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done. Tina was walking around the troll, examining the effect of Ron's blow.

            It was Hermione who spoke first.

            "Is it—dead?"

            "I don't think so," said Harry, "I think it's just been knocked out."

            "You realize we're lucky to be alive, don't you?" said Tina.

            Harry bent down and pulled is wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

            "Urgh—troll bogies."

            He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

            "Bogies," said Tina thoughtfully. "Sure sounds better than boogers."

A/N Okay, so I know I didn't do much to that, but the main reason I'm writing these scenes is because I so want to be in Harry Potter, and if I ever write a real fic I'll be used to adding stuff to J.K. Rowling's style. I'll try to add more to change other scenes, but this is a start, right?


	2. Frozen Friends

Hello, I'm going to spice this up a bit. ('bit' being the key word…just kidding! I hope…) Every other scene will be one we haven't seen before, because that is going to make it interesting, and because I still do want to do scenes from the books. Oh, and just to clear, this is not a story. Just random scenes. And Tina is in Gryffindor! If math serves us correctly, there should be five Gryffindor girls, and we've only met three. Who's to say there isn't really a clone of me in there?

Oh, and one more thing all the scenes will be in third person, no matter whose POV it is.

Tina pushed open the door to the hospital wing, scared once again at what she was about to see.

            "Hermione?" she whispered. "Madam Pomfrey said I could come see you. I know I came before, but that was with Harry and Ron. I wanted to  talk alone."

            She felt rather stupid saying all this, more so because she was speaking to a petrified person. Hermione's expression didn't change, it was still frozen, staring into space.

            "It's getting kind of lonely without my best friend up there," Tina said nervously as she gestured towards the Gryffindor tower. "Ron and Harry can't do their homework without help, and I can't help nearly as much as you. They only let me because they're starting to figure out that girls _are_ smarter than boys." She laughed shrilly.

            "The main thing is that I need someone to talk to. We have our 'girl talk' moments, and they're fun, right? I can't even talk to Ginny now, because she's been acting really strange, not to mention scared more than a lot of others.

            "Who could be so cruel?" Tina said, her voice now shaking as she looked at Hermione again. "Why would people want to hurt the Muggle-borns? And after that, who's next? People like me who're half blood? I'm not even really half-blood because my father was Muggle-born originally. This whole thing, it's just too horrible. Oh god, I wish Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin, just so that we'd be able to turn him in and make the attacks stop.

            She paused, a strange tingling in her eyes. Then she realized it. She was crying. She, Tina Gupta, who seldom shed a single tear or showed a sign of fear, was crying out of fright. Somehow, in the irony of it all, she choked laughter through her tears. Then she wiped her face on the sleeve of her robes, and shifted position.

            "Okay," she said. "Let's drop this subject, it's making me cry. Or at least let's not talk about the attacks anymore. Do you know what happened last night? Ron, Harry, and I followed these spiders into the woods, and--" she shuddered. "Boy, it was scary. Ron's not the only one afraid of spiders, you know. I'm not such a big fan of creepy-crawlies myself. They were really big, with loads of eyes….I think they were acromantula but I'm not completely sure.

            She paused again, and looked at Hermione. This time she smiled.

            "Okay, fine, so you don't want to talk to me! I'll just go and you can laugh at me behind my back!" she was laughing now, just imagining what her friend was thinking.

            Tina picked up her bag and wiped away the last of her tears, then got up to leave. Just when she reached the door, she turned around for a last peek at her friend. And for a brief, fleeting moment, she could've swore that a smile flickered across Hermione's frozen face.


	3. Letter and a present

**Okay, I seem to be requiring background info on Tina. So here goes her life story. See, her parents were both born in India, but her dad was raised in England, so he got to go to Hogwarts. She was raised in America, but once she finished fifth grade, her father moved them back to England, just so that she could attend the English school of magic that he went to himself. She spends summer in the U.S. with her friends, though. Well, some of the summer anyway. **

**This is a short one but I decided it would be cool. **

_Dear Harry, _

_            Well, firstly, happy birthday. I doubt you're getting having a party with your family seeing as they're crazed muggles, (and one of them is purple!)so I thought I'd take the chance and write you with the family owl. _

_            How are you? How's your summer been going? Are your aunt and uncle and your fat cousin giving you a rough time or are you managing? S'pose it could be both. I'm having fun…I was at muggle art camp and saw some old friends, but I'm back in England since school's going to start soon, and I was hoping to see you, Hermione and Ron before it did. _

_            Have Ron and Hermione written to you? I got an owl from Ron and he told me about the phone call. The idiot, you'd think he'd would've figured out not to yell if he heard your uncle screaming back. I would've tried to call (pretending to be a telemarketer or someone from the Ministry calling to expel you for no reason) but I don't know your number. You may want to change that. (hint, hint)_

_            Back to the birthday. The big one-three, eh? I turned thirteen in January. Heehee I get to be older than all of you! Sorry, just having a little fun. But anyway, seeing as the muggles only sent you a toothpick last year for Christmas, I figured that they wouldn't aim much higher for your birthday. But fear not, my friend, for I have sent this owl bearing gifts!_

_Open the flat one first,_

_See you at school,_

_Tina_

            Harry leaned over to a flat package wrapped neatly in silver paper. He tore off the paper and found himself looking at the faces of himself and his friends. Tina, Ron, and Hermione smiled out of the frame waving. Tina pushed Ron to make room and then Ron tripped over his robes and landed on Harry. The two girls then laughed and helped them up. There was a note with the photograph.

_            Remember this, Harry? Course, not you probably don't even remember breakfast, do you? Just kidding, but I might as well refresh your memory. One of those days we had off because exams were cancelled, Colin Creevey caught up with us at the lake. You finally let him take your picture properly. Well, I tracked him down before the holidays and asked him to send me a copy of the photo when it's developed. So, here it is. I made a copy for myself, too, and sent one along to Ron and Hermione. Speaking of them, they asked if we can meet up in Diagon Alley? Do you think you can make it? Or do we have to break you outta there? Well, my dad said we're going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron because our relatives from London are in Nottingham for a wedding. So if you are at Diagon Alley I'll be around there, too._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Tina_

            Smiling, Harry reached for the other package. Also wrapped in silver, it was also in a box. Pulling off the paper, he searched for a way to open it. Harry ran his fingernail through the tape to try to rip it open. To his surprise, the tape not only punctured, but glowed bright yellow along the line made by his fingernail for a moment. Then the box fell open to reveal a wheel with little minifigures of every model of flying broom ever made. He stared at it, amazed. Underneath each model a small flap opened to describe it and its functions. There was a note in this one, too.

            _So, Harry, I guess if you're reading your note then that means you've figured out how to open a box sealed with new 'Finger-friendly' Spellotape. I thought it was ingenious, so I had to use it. Well, as you can see this is a Broomstick Progression Wheel. It shows all the flying brooms ever made and how they improved model to model. There's a new one there, too, which I think you'll enjoy. I won't say much because you'll have plenty of time to look at it later. _

_So for the last time I say, see ya!_

_Tina_

Harry wanted to look at the new broom on the wheel, but at that moment a brown-paper package with a note written in an untidy scrawl gave a large, quivering jolt.

**A/N So what do you think? I put in the last part so we know exactly where this fits in, between Hermione's present and Hagrid's present. I decided Harry shouldn't examine the model of the Firebolt on his Progression Wheel because that'll take away from the effect it has on him in Diagon Alley. **

**Reviews are like chocolate covered strawberries! I can't live without 'em!**


	4. Divination

**Well, one of my friends read this fic, and it seems I'm also requiring a little detail about the relationship between Tina and Hermione. Basically, they're best friends. I did this because Hermione doesn't seem to have many friends who are girls (unless you count Ginny, but they aren't even in the same year and don't see each other often). Tina's not an average student, but she isn't as good as Hermione. And also, there's nothing real girly about it. I mean, Tina is the girly one, but she's like me and I'm not exactly girly. My mention of 'girl talk' in chapter two just kind of refers to girls talking. The ups and downs of being a teen and all. **

**Oh, and Tina looks as I do at her age, so in second and third year she has braces, and her hair gets shorter. In this chapter it's about chest level, and she has a face-frame.**

**By reading this you are bound to review it!**

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your parthre to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging__ the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear" –she caught Neville by the arm as he made to stand up—"after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was a tinkly of breaking china. Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a dustpan and a brush and said, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you wouldn't mind…thank you…"

Tina and Hermione opened their books seated across from each other then drank their tea, exchanging glances with Harry and Ron now and then.

"Okay," said Tina, after carrying out the procedure with the dregs. "You can read mine first."

"Oh, fine," Hermione replied. "Let's see…I was never one for interpreting abstract art and this seems just like it. Hmmm, well…I think that's a triangle…which means you're being watched…" Tina raised her eyebrows and looked around the class. "And, um…this is a little bit like a star. That means…'great fame'…and this thing here resembles a wheel…that means 'unexpected bankruptcy'…"

Tina looked skeptical. "So…I'm being watched…maybe I have a stalker, because of my great fame…and yet I'm poor?"

Hermione nodded. "Can you think of any people who're watching you?" she asked.

"None," replied Tina. "You know, I think tea was only meant to be drunk."

They giggled, and at the same time heard Ron and Harry stifling their own laughter at the next table. The two pairs eyed each other suspiciously and then went back to their cups.

"All right…" said Tina examining Hermione's tea leaves. "That looks like a tree…meaning you have a great secret, hey, why haven't you told me? And that's kind of a spiral, like the ones that people use to draw wind…that means 'disturbances in your work'--"

"Their names are Ron and Harry," said Hermione, and they lapsed into silent laughter again.

"Right," said Tina attempting to keep a straight face. "I think that this thing here —no, there— yeah, I think that's a, uh…mountain, which is 'a great adventure'. So, you have a secret which may cause disturbances, and you're going to have an adventure. Oh, wait, if I turn the cup this way that spiral looks like a heart...that means 'love in your future'. Oh, really? And what's his name?"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said, but she was blushing slightly. "This class is a waste of time. 'Love in my future', what rubbish…"

Tina was about to question Hermione further and protest that Divination wasn't completely pointless when Professor Trelawney whirled around and descended upon Harry and Ron at the next table. 

**A/N- I wanted to show where exactly this one would end up in the story, too. As you can see, Tina isn't really such a bad Seer, as she interpreted Hermione's cup quite well. You know, secret (time turner), disturbances (arguments with Ron and oh, I don't know, maybe an alleged killer on the loose?), great adventure (Shrieking Shack and time turner yet again! Duh!), love (Krum is puppy love, but I'll bet Hermione's blushing cause of Ron!). **


	5. Strangeness and Hogsmeade

**Yaaaaay****!!!!! My story has been reviewed a grand total of…..nine times. Hmm….not exactly fabulous, or happiness inspiring, but it's cool to get even one review. This chapter goes out to Tekvah Ariel- my constant reviewer who has made me her beta reader! Read her story!!**

**So, this chapter lacks what every Harry Potter book has: Harry Potter. It's told through Tina when she, Ron, and Hermione, go to Hogsmeade for the first time. Now a friend of mine told me that I couldn't do this because the first Hogsmeade trip was a romantic Ron & Hermione moment, but fact is, Ron wouldn't know romance if it bit him in the butt. **

**Hey Anandini Akka and Nina! Hope you two sugarquill fanatics enjoy this chapter!**

**I made a mistake in my "calculations". Tina has braces first and second year, not second and third. In third she has what I currently do: Two crystal clear retainers, one for the top and one for the bottom. **

**Just an FYI, I only have one disclaimer to apply to the whole fic, but I felt the need for another one here.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Quodpot, but I wish I owned Quidditch**

**This is going to be the last scene in third year!**

            Tina, Ron, and Hermione walked out to the horseless carriages that would be taking them to Hogsmeade village. Ron opened the door looking as though he was going to let the two girls in first, then climbed into the carriage himself and sat down comfortably. Hermione followed, looking slightly annoyed, and with one final, sympathetic glance back at the castle, Tina entered, too.

            "I still feel bad going to Hogsmeade while Harry's stuck in Gryffindor tower," she said, voicing what everyone was thinking.

            "We all feel that way," Hermione replied.

            "Yeah," said Ron. "That's why we're going to bring back so much stuff for Harry."

            "True," said Tina, not sounding totally convinced. "And Harry would want us to have a good time, so I guess we'll just having to enjoy ourselves even more to make up for how much he would."

            Hermione looked rather skeptical about this philosophy, but said nothing, obviously thinking it through. Tina decided to change the subject.

            "So Ron," she began. "I hear the Quidditch World Cup's next year. Have you ever been to one before?"

            "Once," said Ron. "Why? Don't you get to see much Quidditch in America?"

            "Oh yeah," said Tina. "When we lived in Massachusetts we got to watch the state team a few times. But after we moved there wasn't nearly enthusiasm for Quidditch in our new town as there was in our old one. It's like that in most cities in the states. There aren't as many Quidditch fans in the U.S. as there are in Britain. Most American wizards prefer Quodpot."

            Ron opened his mouth, no doubt to ask what Quodpot was, but Hermione cut in. "It's a game that evolved from Quidditch," she said to him. "A bewitched Quaffle, or a Quod, is chased around the pitch by the players and they have to get it into a 'pot' before it explodes in their face."

            Both Tina and Ron looked impressed.

            "It seems so…American, doesn't it?" Ron said, grinning. "A game that involves and exploding ball, honestly the ways these people think of to put themselves in danger…"

            The rest of the short ride to Hogsmeade was spent talking about Quodpot, which, though they found it dangerous and rather stupid, both Ron and Hermione found quite interesting. By the time they reached the wizarding village Ron seemed to think it would be good fun to play a game with an exploding ball.

            The carriage pulled up to Hogsmeade station where they got off. It was rather chilly, since it was Halloween, so the three of them put on their cloaks as they walked towards the village.

            "Wow!" exclaimed Tina. "Look at this! It's like something out of a painting, and not necessarily a moving one, either."

            It was indeed quite a sight. There were quaint little shops lining the narrow streets of the village and wizards of all shapes and sizes emerging from them. There were also a series of street side venders selling everything from Floo Powder to Enchanted Socks ("No more holes for your toes to peek through!").

            "Where to first?" said Ron. "There's Honeyduke's, Zonko's, The Shrieking Shack, Dervish and Banges, The Three Broomsticks…"

            "Let's go to Dervish and Banges," suggested Hermione. "I'm running out of parchment. Wonder why…"

            Ron muttered something about overachievers as they pushed open the door to the magical supply shop. Inside was everything they would ever need for school. From quills, to parchment, to potion ingredients and books of charms. Hermione and Tina had to drag Ron away from an eraser that automatically erased misspelled words.

            Next they chose to go to Zonko's, where shelf upon shelf was lined with practical jokes beyond anyone's wildest dreams. In the shop they ran into Fred and George, who were trying to quietly jinx a box of Dungbombs so that they would go off only when someone with a head boy badge was near them. Tina stopped for a moment to show them how to help it recognize that person and left the twins, chortling.

            Tina steered Ron and Hermione into Honeyduke's, for that had been what she was really looking fotward to. Inside, she felt as though her wildest fantasies had come true and settled in this shop.

            "What should I get?" she asked Hermione fingering through her money. "There's so much to choose from!"

            "You're right," said Hermione, looking at the shelves breathlessly. "Get some of everything."

            They then split up, each to buy a little of everything from each corner of the store (The fourth corner held some rather strange sweets that none of the three were very keen on trying). Tina ran into Parvati Patil when shuffling through a jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

            "Oh, hello Tina," said Parvati in a friendly voice.

            "Hi Parvati," said Tina. The two were not nearly as close as Tina and Hermione but were just short of being actual friends. Despite the cultural things that they could share, Tina often found Parvati to be something of a featherhead who couldn't really see the bigger picture of reality. "What's up?"

            "Oh, nothing. I'm just looking for some candy to send home. But my parents aren't fond of sweets that aren't Indian."

            At this, Tina chuckled. It seemed perfectly characterisitic of any Indian family to feel that way.

            "Try the Meal Chiclets," she suggested. "They're basically a whole meal in a bite sized piece of gummy candy, and I think they have a few international delicacies."

            She winked and the two girls said good-bye, grinning.

            Ron, Hermione, and Tina left Honeyduke's, their pockets filled with Ice Mice, Acid Pops, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, and all sorts of other oddities that would make the mouth water. They then headed towards the Three Broomsticks for a quick drink to warm up.

            "Then we can go to the Shrieking Shack," said Hermione. "And I think after we do it'll be about time to leave."

            They popped into the cheerful pub and ordered three butterbeers from the woman behind the bar, Madam Rosmerta. She called Ron 'Dear' and the girls couldn't help but notice his ears go a violent shade of red. After they got their drinks, they sat down at a table near the window.

            "So Ron," said Tina, grinning slyly. "You seem to like Madam Rosmerta, eh? Hate to burst your bubble though, bud, but she's too old for you."

            Hermione giggled and Ron once again changed color to a bright crimson.

            "Shut up," he muttered trying to hide his ears from view.

            The rest of their stay in the Three Broomsticks was spent drinking butterbeer and talking about Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. They then put their cloaks back on and jogged up to the Shrieking Shack.

            "Cool," said Tina. "It just looks so….eerie. It looks deserted though, don't you think?"

            "A little," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Perhaps the ghosts have left. Or maybe they came to peaceful agreements."

            Ron snorted. Hermione glared at him then changed the subject.

            "You know, if it wasn't boarded up or haunted, I think it would be quite a quaint little cottage. And I suppose if it was cleaned up a bit it would make a perfectly cozy place to live in."

            "Yeah, maybe," said Ron looking at the Shack again as though trying to picture it as a home. Hermione gave him an odd look. It was a look that startled both Tina and Ron because of one reason: they had never seen it before. What shocked Tina more was that Ron returned the look to Hermione. It wasn't adoration, which would've been her first thought. No, it seemed as though each was seeing the other in a different light all of a sudden, and all because they had agreed on one thing.

            "Okay," said Tina eying them apprehensively. "This is getting a little too weird for me. I'm going to the post office."

            With that, she left shivering at the strangeness of it all. _What the heck was that?_ She asked herself. _It wasn't normal, that's for sure._ She hoped she would never see that look on either of their faces again, though when she gave it a little thought it was rather cute. Amidst all her confusion, Tina giggled while checking the price for an owl to the United States.

            She met Ron and Hermione back at the carriages, and greeted them, grinning. None of them brought up the strange moment that had ensued down at the Shack. They had put the little scene behind them and rode back to the schools chatting merrily about whether or not they thought Quodpot would ever come to Hogwarts. (Ron held high hopes) Tina and Hermione decided that they would give Harry half of everything they had bought, with the exception of Hermione's parchment. Soon enough they were at Hogwarts, ready for the famous Halloween feast.

**A/N- What do you think? Despite my Author's Note at the beginning of this chapter, I couldn't resist foreshadowing a little Ron/Hermione moment. It's really nothing, I just made it a big deal because they argued so much in this book and they agreed in this one about a house they would want to live in. **


	6. Babysitting the Boys

**Author's Note: I'm posting a lot sooner than I thought I'd be, probably because I wrote the new chapter of my Mediator fic in one day. So here's the first in a volley of updates which should be coming as I progress through book four. **

Tina and Ron got out of the carriage and walked through Hogsmeade village to Zonko's. It was quite cold so they both put on their cloaks and Tina decided to wear her gloves.

Zonko's was packed, as always and the two of them made their way to the back where the greatest novelties were. Ron mostly liked to look at these things, as he couldn't afford many of them, and Tina was searching for a well-priced gift she could send her eight-year old brother for Christmas.

"How about this?" she said, holding Invisible chalk up to Ron's face. "He can draw on something like a chair and whoever sits on it will have chalk on their butt!"

Ron snorted, giving his approval, but giving it a little more thought Tina decided that her jeans would be safer if she bought something else.

In their search for a gift that was more family-friendly they ran into Fred and George. It was never abnormal to run into the Weasley twins in a joke shop, especially Zonko's, but what was abnormal was that they didn't seem to be looking for anything to buy. Indeed, they were talking to the manager in hushed voices and had what looked like a small pastry box. Tina and Ron hid behind a shelf to hear what they were saying:

"You've got to take it! We need the money since he won't pay us!"

"I understand your dilemma Mr. Weasley, but I can only accept items that were developed by the Zonko brothers! They're out of the country right now and may not be back until next October. I can, however arrange an interview then."

"It's no good; we need the money much sooner than that. If the stupid git just payed up…"

"Relax, Fred. Now come on, sir, surely you haven't seen anything this ingenious before have you? No one will be able to tell it's not a Zonko product. Maybe not even Messrs. Zonko, eh? They probably don't remember every single thing they've developed, anyway so why not put these on a shelf and tell them they invented them ages ago?"

"I think not Mr. Weasley." said the manager in a steely voice. "Good day to you both." And then he walked off, leaving the twins at the counter. Tina pushed Ron towards the end of the shelf and then they both came around it so it wouldn't look like they had been eavesdropping.

"Hey Fred! Hey George!" Tina called. "What're you buying?"

"Nothing." Fred answered in a would-be friendly voice. "Were you listening to us?"

"What? Oh, no, of course not." Tina replied. "We just….saw you here and I was wondering if you could help me find a Christmas present for my brother. Something he'll like that can't endanger me?"

At this the twins relaxed considerably, and spent the next half an hour showing Tina and Ron things that Tina could send her brother. In the end it was Lee Jordan who arrived and helped Tina find the last box of exploding pencils. Despite the fact that most wizards used quills, these seemed to be quite a success with the Muggle-born crowd. Tina bought a pack of them and then she, Ron and the twins left for the Three Broomsticks.

"Um…Ron, while we're there, do you want to talk to Hermione and Har--"

"No." said Ron firmly. "Don't even say his name."

The pub was packed even more than usual because so many villagers were asking students about the tournament. The twins, Lee, Ron and Tina all found a table towards the back of the shop and sat down after ordering five butterbeers. (Fred tried to ask for some of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, but Madam Rosmerta hit him upside the head) Tina looked around and saw Hermione taking a seat at a table and muttering to herself. But Tina knew better than that.

"I'll be right back, guys," she said, and got up from the table. After what seemed like quite a while (the pub was so packed she could barely walk) she reached the table where Hermione was sitting, read her S.P.E.W. notebook.

"Hi," said Tina brightly.

"Hello," said Hermione cheerfully. "Sit down." She gestured at the empty seat to her right. Tina sat down willingly, and then leaned over towards the unoccupied chair beside her.

"Hey, Harry," she whispered.

"Hi," Harry's voice came from thin air but Tina could almost see him sitting there without his cloak. "How did you know I was here?"

"Oh, please, like you'd ever miss coming to Hogsmeade just because of a few badges and Ron acting like prat." She retorted. "Of course, it sounds a lot worse when you lump it together like that. Anyway, is that why you wore the cloak? To avoid everyone teasing you?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "I'll be glad when this is over."

"So will we," said Hermione. She and Tina exchanged glances.

"What?"

"Oh, come_ on_ Harry, we're sick of having to baby-sit you boys!" said Tina in exasperation. "You and Ron have such stupid pride. He won't admit he's wrong and you won't admit that you miss him and go set him straight! What do you _like_ not being friends?"

"No, of course I hate it," said Harry in indignation. "Besides, he won't listen to me."

"Well he won't listen to us, either. He probably knows that we think you're right and that's just making him more inclined to act stubborn." Hermione looked ready to cry. "You two not being friends is really horrible to watch, Harry. I really hope this all just…goes away." She sniffed and Tina patted her on the arm.

"Well, I just came to say hi," said Tina glancing over at the Lee and the Weasleys. "I should probably get back to the others. Ron'll be wondering what I'm doing. He's not stupid you know," she added as a noise came from Harry. "He'd be able to figure out that you're here." Then she left for her own table, where the drinks had arrived.

"What were you talking about?" Ron asked.

"Baby-sitting," said Tina, and he asked no further questions.

"So," said Lee conversationally. "Who do you think is going to win the First Task? Better yet, who do you think will _live_ through the First Task?"

Tina glared at him.

"I think everyone'll do fine in the First Task." She said staring Lee in the face. "No matter what the odds are against them."

"Bet they'll be right scared when it comes time for it," said George.

"Yeah, well at least three of them actually volunteered for the danger." Tina was raising her eyebrows at Ron now. His expression changed from mild interest at the conversation to anger.

"Well, it's easy to see whose side you're on," he said acidly. "But what proof have you got, eh?"

"His word." Said Tina quietly. "And if you knew him at all, that'd be enough for you."

The twins and Lee were staring at the two of them now, completely bewildered.

"Er…let's talk about something else, shall we?" suggested Fred. "What's your favorite Quidditch team Tina?"

Tina was still piercing Ron with her stare but turned towards Fred. "The Fitchburg Finches," she replied.

"A true American," muttered George, and she punched him in the arm. At this Ron couldn't help chuckling, and Harry and the tournament were not mentioned again during their time in Hogsmeade.

After an hour (and several butterbeers, which resulted in the twins becoming rather tipsy) the five of them put on their cloaks and walked back up to the carriages, laughing and chatting about anything, from Hagrid and Madam Maxime to whether or not Crabbe and Goyle actually knew how to speak. It was when they climbed into the carriages that Ron voiced something which appeared to have been bothering him for a large part of the evening.

"You really think he didn't enter?" he asked Tina suddenly. If she was startled, she didn't show it.

"Yes, I do." She answered. Ron lapsed into a thoughtful silence and the carriages set off for the castle. ****

**A/N I'm trying to do scenes with Tina and particular characters, as was recommended to me by Anandini77 in her review. **

**!!!! Now, I've got a little favor to ask of all of you. I realize many of you (glances at the marauders) want to see specific characters or scenes in my story and that's great. So, send me your requests or ideas and I'll put them in. I have scenes I want to do, but I know that there are many that more of you may like to see. But, you're going to have to specify a little, so I know which scene you want and how you want me to tweak it. If the scenes are in year four or five, I'll put them in as I go through those years, and if they're earlier, I'll write them once I finish with mine. But please, don't hesitate to request anything! I'm looking forward to it!**

**Tekvah**** Ariel**- Glad you liked it. Actually, chapter five wasn't the visit in which Harry turned up in his cloak. He does that like the second time or something. It is a little weird of Ron and Hermione to agree on something like that, but because it has to do with their futures, it affects them a little. And don't we all live life just for the weirdness?

**Kandie****-Spirit-Dragon**- Glad you like it!

**Padfoot****,**** Prongs and Moony**- I'm on your favorite stories page! Yay! I'm so glad you like this, and I was a little worried about whether or not I was keeping it all in character. I'm really sorry I couldn't do the whole Shrieking Shack thing, but since it's mostly Lupin explaining there wasn't much room for Tina. I love Sirius too (giggles, thinking of O.W.L. year) and I will try to do scenes with him in them! But still, requests! I know you guys have some…

**InnocentAngel14**- Of course I remember you, you're my fellow desi-pop-lover! Someone copied your story?! No way! That's low. I looked for the story, and the author dadivaunv, but I couldn't find either. Have you read the rest of my story? If you haven't, go do that right now! And make sure you review!

**Funness**- My story can get taken down because I make the Author's Note a chapter? Wow, that's weird. Anyway I'm glad you like it and Ron and Hermione do most definitely rock. The muse keeps eluding you? Interesting, I'll have to keep an eye out in case I see it...

**Anandini77**- Oh dear, I'm blushing. All the praise for Tina! Imagine how I would be if you said all that stuff in real life! You have loads of questions. Tina and Parvati sort of have a love-hate relationship, which I based on me and this girl named Joselyn Evans from our elementary school. Tina and Parvati get along great when it comes to some things, but in other cases they annoy the heck out of each other. From the sound of it, I think I'll be getting loads of requests from you. The Yule Ball Saga, as I call it, is going to start in the next chapter. I decided I'm going to write the Yule Ball chapter, editing out chunks of it and working Tina in the way I did in the first chapter of this story. Just for you, this chapter was Tina/Ron moments, and I gotta say I liked writing it a lot. Indian guys at Hogwarts? I don't know, but if they're anything like the Indian guys in my school, Tina is definitely going to turn down their invitations to the ball.

**R&R: Review and Request! (haha)**


	7. Dates for the girls

**Author's Note: Yay!!! Everyone did a fantastic job responding to my request for requests! I've gotten some really good ideas from all of you and I'll be posting them all soon enough! **

**This chapter is dedicated to Venus725 my new BEST reviewer!**

**So here it is. The first chapter in the Yule Ball Saga. I'm all tingly!**

Tina woke up feeling oddly refreshed. She soon found out that this was because it was eleven o'clock in the morning.

"Oh, great," she muttered as she got dressed. "Bet they all left."

She was right. Hermione had left a note on her trunk that said, _Sleep well? We'll find you around lunch. _

"What do you mean you'll find me?" she asked paper as though expecting a response. "All right, fine, I'll find you."

Tina went down to the common room, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere to be found. She checked the Great Hall (and stole a rather cold piece of toast) then headed down to the library. Ron and Harry might not be there but she was certain that Hermione would be.

Upon reaching the library (and having Madam Pince narrow her eyes at Tina; she had once accidentally folded one of the pages of Quidditch Through the Ages), Tina walked through all the shelves Hermione could possibly be looking in, only to find nothing except three Knuts and something that looked suspiciously like a Dungbomb. (She left that where it was) She was about to leave when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her behind another shelf.

"Hey! What're you--" Tina's captor held up a hand to silence her. When she looked up to see who it was, her jaw dropped. She was looking at Viktor Krum. He didn't bother to introduce himself because of this but instead began to speak very quickly in a deep, gruff, voice.

"You are friend of Hermy-own?" he asked.

"Friend of whom?"

"Hermy-own! The girl vith the brown hair."

"Oh!" cried Tina. "You mean Hermione!"

"Yes, Hermy-own," said Krum. Tina didn't bother to correct him.

"Yeah, what about her?" she asked.

"I vont for this Hermy-own to come vith me to the ball." Replied Krum.

Tina's jaw dropped.

"What?" she asked. "You…you do?"

"Yes," said Krum, as though Tina was a bit dim. "Vill you ask her for me?"

"Um…I don't think I'm allowed to do that," said Tina. "Against the rules of dating. But you can ask her yourself."

"How?" asked Krum looking around nervously. "Those girls, they follow me. How can I get avay from them?"

"Hmmm…" said Tina thoughtfully, a plan hatching in her mind. "Leave that part to me."

Krum raised his eyebrows.

"Look," said Tina. "Come here after lunch. I'll send Hermione down here too. Then I'll wait outside inconspicuously and if your little fan club shows up I'll tell them that you went the other way. How does that sound?"

Krum's eyebrows came back down and furrowed themselves.

"That is very vell," he said after what seemed like ages.

"Good," said Tina. "So you'll be here after lunch?"

"I vill be here after lunch."

"Okay. See you later then!"

"Thank you, friend of Hermy-own." Answered Krum.

"Um…you can call me Tina." Said Tina, suppressing an urge to laugh.

"Fine," said Krum. He added as an afterthought, "You may call me Viktor."

"Okay," said Tina, looking rather frightened at the prospect of calling an internationally renowned Quidditch player by his first name. "Or how about Vik?" she added, now enjoying the idea and not wanting to call Hermione's boyfriend by the same name she would use for him.

"That is fine too," Krum said.

"Cool," said Tina, grinning nervously. "Later then…Vik."

Then she ran from the library as fast as she could. This proved to be something of a bad idea, because on the way she had a rather violent collision with Terry Boot, of Ravenclaw.

"Argh!" screamed Tina as the two of them collapsed onto the floor in the corridor. "Oh, gosh, Terry I'm sorry I was just running…I mean, I was in a rush to get to lunch and…here let me help you…"

Terry had become tangled up in his robes and was unable to escape the situation. Tina managed to find his head (which was lodged in his sleeve) and finally pulled him up, only to tripe and cause both of them to fall over yet again in doing so. Terry looked at Tina and then she looked at him, and the two of them burst out laughing.

"You should've seen yourself!" cried Tina between fits of giggles.

"I would've if you hadn't brought me crashing down again!" People were starting to stare at the two of them, sitting on the floor, laughing madly, and showing no desire whatsoever to get back up. However, they had no choice but to do so, and it was Terry who got up first.

"Well that was fun," he said, smoothing out his robes. He offered Tina his hand, and she took it gladly. There was an awkward pause.  
"We should probably go to lunch," said Tina.

"Yeah," Terry replied. "Our friends may be wondering where we are."

"Yeah." Tina began to leave, but suddenly Terry stopped her.

"Um, Tina?" he asked rather timidly. "I was wondering…um…would you like to…come to the ball with me?"

Tina whirled around to face him.

"What?" she said blankly. "Me? Really?"

"Well, yeah," said Terry, looking sheepish. "But if you don't want to, I understand--"

"No, it's not like that," said Tina quickly. "You just…surprised me, that's all. But yeah, I'd love to go to the ball with you."

Now it was Terry's turn to be surprised, only he looked quite delighted. "Really? You will? I mean…er…okay then, I guess I'll see you there."

"Yeah, till then," said Tina, smiling at him.

"Till then."

Tina went to lunch feeling rather dazed. She had never thought Terry Boot of all people would ask her. She didn't know him very well, but had seen him often and remembered with a grin that she had on more than one occasion thought he was cute. Before long she was taking a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, still looking thoroughly preoccupied.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Hermione as she helped herself to some sandwiches.

"Oh, nothing," said Tina, smiling again. Hermione gave her a Now-we-both-know-it's-not-nothing look. Tina sighed and quickly managed to tell Hermione in whispers what had happened before Harry and Ron arrived. There were both rather giggly by this time.

"Sorry we're late," said Ron, taking a seat and piling his plate with food. "Peeves stole my shoes. Took a good ten minutes to get them down from that chandelier," he added, looking rather tired. "Hey, what's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing," said Hermione in a rather strained voice.

"Come off it," said Harry, eyeing them both suspiciously. "Tell us, why don't you?"

"We might," said Tina. "Just…not now."

The boys seemed satisfied that they would at least receive the information at some point during their lives and they all finished their meal arguing over who Snape would be poisoning at the end of term. (Harry was first in line)

When everyone was leaving the table, Tina pulled Hermione aside.

"Let's go to the library," she said.

"What?" asked Hermione. "Not that I object, but why now all of a sudden?"

"Someone there would like to talk to you," said Tina, unable to hide her trademark smile. "Just go, you won't regret it."

And they set off for the library.

**A/N: So? What do you think? I didn't want Tina to go to the ball with Dean Thomas because he's going to end up with Ginny. I decided on Terry Boot because we don't know much about him and for all we know he and Tina can go steady for years to come. Now, I don't have Hermione being asked to the ball by Krum in here, because Tina doesn't witness that, but she will hear the details later on. **

**This chapter's idea, the Tina/Krum interaction, was one of many requests I got from Anandini77 via E-mail.**

**Now, I will be posting again very soon, possibly on the same day I post this, but you still have to review EVERY chapter!!**

**Tekvah Ariel- **The Easter eggs, eh? I could do that, but it'd be a really short chapter. I suppose then I could kind of fast forward to when Bill and Mrs. Weasley come to the tournament and show that part, too…okay, cool, I think I'll do that. As for Arithmancy, I think it's like math, but different and it might be hard to do. I suppose we may never know what it really is unless Harry starts to take that class in the books. ::sigh::

**Anandini77- **Yay! Again, glad you're liking it. The thing about Tina balancing her friendship with both boys was also something that I've based on personal experiences. I've got several friends who're boys, and when my friends (boys and girls alike) fight, I never really take sides. I at least make sure I'm still speaking to and hanging out with both of them. Question, can you email the email you sent me with your requests again? I want to keep it as new so I remember everything you requested.

**Ronkid8829**- Thanks, glad you like it. As for your story, anytime. I really do like being a beta, because I'm strange, and I'm happy to help.

**Venus725- **OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!! You are so awesome!!!!! Seven reviews…all at once!!!! I only know one other person who has reviewed every single chapter of a story they read all at once like that, and it's me. You are most definitely my new best reviewer and for that, this chapter is dedicated to you. All right! So you're an R/H shipper too? Excellent. I am going to have Tina and Malfoy interaction sometime, but I doubt it will be in a remotely nice way. I'm planning on inflicting some sort of pain on him, but we'll see. (hehe)

**Padfoot****,**** Prongs and Moony- **I will try to work Sirius in, I promise! I just don't know when to, but I think it'll be sometime in Book 5. I got some good ideas from Anandini77 about that. We'll see what I do. I feel the same way about Ron's behavior before the First Task in Book 4. I just want to give him a good kick up the--okay, I think I should shut up now.

**LONG REVIEWS! And you have to review EVERY chapter, remember?**


	8. Hermione's luck

**Author's Note: Thank you all again for the requests! This chapter's idea came from Anandini77, also. It's short, but there're loads more to come! I doubt this story will ever be truly complete, but who cares? **

Tina left the library after a few minutes, having met and redirected Krum's giggling lady friends. She decided to go back to the common room and wait for Hermione.

"Fairy lights," she said, giving the Fat Lady the new password. The portrait hole swung open and Tina found the common room deserted, all except for one person sitting reading by the fire. Her first impression was that it might be Hermione, but Hermione was at dinner with Harry and Ron. Tina crept closer to see who it was. Her jaw dropped.

It was Neville.

"Neville?" she asked incredulously. He jumped.

"Oh, Tina, hello," Neville replied, clutching his chest. "Why aren't you with your friends?"

"Hermione's in the library and Harry and Ron went to visit the kitchens," Tina replied dully. "Plus, I've got homework. Stupid Snape and his poison antidotes. I'd like to tell him what he can do with that bezoar. He can--"

"Shhh!" cried Neville, looking horrorstruck but amused. "Don't want someone to hear you and go running to Snape, do you?"

"Why would they? Everyone feels the same about him. And in case you didn't notice, there's no one in here."

"True," he muttered. "Let's not talk about Snape anymore." He added with a shiver.

"Okay," said Tina, seating herself in an armchair by the fire. "Who're you planning on taking to the ball?"

Neville gave an odd sort of jerk. "I…erm...no one," he finished timidly. "I mean…I've got someone in mind, but I don't know if she'll go with me."

"Who is it then?" Tina asked, grinning.

"Well…" Neville didn't seem particularly keen on divulging such a thing. "It's...Hermione."

Tina's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked, hardly believing that she had spent the entire day so far helping boys ask Hermione to the ball. "You like _Hermione_?"

"No," said Neville quickly, going quite red. "I mean, I don't _fancy _her. It's just that ever since I came to Hogwarts she's been really nice and helpful to me with everything. But how do I ask her?"

"Well," said Tina pointedly. "Tell her everything you just told me. That's the perfect way to ask a girl out."

"Really?" said Neville. "You think that's all right?"

"'Course it is," said Tina. "Only…" she paused. She didn't want to hurt Neville's feelings, but she knew he'd feel worse if he had to find out at the last second. "I think she might be going with someone else." _Oh, sure, play dumb, _she thought feeling slightly annoyed with herself.

"She is?" asked Neville, looking worried once again. "Then what will I do?"

"You can still _ask_ her," said Tina hurriedly. "I might be wrong. But if she's really going with someone else you'll just have to ask another girl who you like." She added as an afterthought, "as a friend."

At this, Neville looked up at her meaningfully.

"Oh, no," Tina said, reading his mind, but smiling once again. "Not me. I'm going with someone, too."

Neville grinned sheepishly. "I suppose there's Ginny," he said thoughtfully. "And she's in third year so no one can have asked her, right?"

"Right," said Tina, glad to see Neville thinking again. "But you can still ask Hermione."

"Of course," he replied. "Thanks, though. At least now I _can_ ask her."

At that moment, who should walk through the portrait hole, but Hermione. Neville suddenly looked quite horrified again, and Tina had a look that felt to her like it said 'Curse the timing!' However, Hermione didn't really seem to notice.

"Hello Tina," she said cheerfully, her cheeks rather pink. "Hullo, Neville," she added, seeing him by the fire.

"Um…" said Tina, thinking there was no time like the present. "I'm gonna…go up to the dormitory and get my homework."

"Good idea," said Hermione. "I'll come too--"

"No!" said Tina with a bi too much enthusiasm. "I mean, erm…well, since I'm going up I'll get yours for you. You can stay down here and..._talk_ to Neville." She raised her eyebrows at Neville, hinting what she meant. Hermione looked from one of them to the other, seeming extremely confused. While she was looking at Neville, Tina snuck him an encouraging smile. Then she disappeared up the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

Tina rummaged through her bag and pulled out several pieces of parchment and her quill and ink. Then she found her Potions' book and went through Hermione's bag to find the same things.

On her way down the spiral staircase, Tina stopped, hearing voices. It sounded like Neville and Hermione. _Good_, she thought. _At least he got up the courage to ask her_.

"So…will you?" Tina heard Neville say.

"Oh, Neville…that's very nice of you," Hermione sounded as though she was about to drop a rather large bombshell.

"Oh, crap, I was right," muttered Tina. She didn't know whether she should feel annoyed and stupid or proud and gleeful. However, she didn't have much time to decide because Hermione spoke again.

"But, I'm sorry, I can't, I'm…I'm already going with someone." In the fraction of a second pause that followed this Tina decided that she felt proud and gleeful. However, Neville didn't seem too thrilled.

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well, that's fine. Thanks anyway." Footsteps followed, and disappeared up the staircase to the boys' dormitories. Tina took the opportunity to go back down into the common room.

"So," she said, unable to stop herself from smiling. "Did he ask you?"

Hermione looked up at Tina, growing redder by the second.

"Who, Neville?" she asked, trying to look innocent. "Yes, he just--"

"No," said Tina, grinning even more. "You know who I mean."

"No, I don't think I do."

"Oh, come on, I'm the reason you two are together! You have to tell me!"

Now it was Hermione's turn to grin. She looked extremely prone to another fit of giggles, but she also looked rather sly and wicked.

"Oh, all right," she said. "He did."

They both squealed, and if someone had walked into the common room at that point, they would've found the scene incredibly strange, because Hermione Granger rarely giggled, let alone squealed.

"Oh, wow!" cried Tina. "This is so COOL! I mean, you…and…and _Krum!_ Viktor Krum! Gosh, you're just surrounded by celebrities, my friend. I mean, first Harry, now Vik. What, do famous people just gravitate toward you?"

Hermione didn't answer, she was just smiling.

"Okay, so what did he say? I mean, _how_ did he ask you?"

"Oh, that," said Hermione, blushing again. "He just sort of…talked to me, that's all. He was waiting when I got there, and he told me that he had only been going to the library all those times so that he could talk to me."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"You know what," said Tina thoughtfully. "You're enjoying this."

"Oh, I am not," said Hermione.

"Yes, you are," pressed Tina. "Oh, go on, just admit it. You're flattered that he likes you."

"Well, I…might be…a little." Said Hermione gingerly. "All right, fine, so I'm flattered! Are you happy now?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to hear it from you. Anyway, we had better start on our homework, or Harry and Ron'll show up and start asking questions."

"Right," said Hermione, straightening up. "I don't want them to know. They'll just tease me. Especially Ron."

"Oh, yeah," said Tina.

They opened up their Potion books and started on their homework.

**A/N Yay! Girl moment! LONG REVIEWS and you have to review this and the previous one as well…hehehe. **


	9. No wonder

**Author's Note: I think the Yule Ball Saga will be about five or six chapters long. It depends on whether or not I add the actual ball. You'll have to let me know on that one. I think I will add it, though. It'd be cruel to have all this fabulous buildup to the ball and not show it. But that brings me to another dilemma: should I tell it through Harry or Tina? Or…maybe I'll do both. I want to do Harry, but I think it would be cool to show what Tina and Hermione are doing as well. **

**This is a short one!**

"So…you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," said Ron.

"Well, you better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred and appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."

"What about you George?" asked Harry. "Who're you going with?"

"Ah," said George. "Thanks for reminding me." He turned to Tina, who looked slightly alarmed.

"Want to come to the ball with me, Tina?" George asked with the air of one asking the time.

"What?" Tina blinked.

"Come…to…the…ball…with…me." Said George, as though he was speaking to someone quite slow.

"Oh, wow, George, I…um…well, that'd be fun and all, but I can't. I'm already going with someone."

George showed no sign of surprise at this, but Harry and Ron looked as though they had been told that Blast-Ended Skrewts could cure the common cold.

"No problem," said George. "Just asked because you're a friend."

"Right," said Tina. "Why rock the boat?"

George grinned. Fred got to his feet, yawning. "We'd better use a school owl then, George, com on…"

They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across at the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Tina.

"Who is it, then?" he asked.

"Who is who?"

"Who's your partner for the ball?"

"Oh," said Tina. "Terry Boot. You probably don't know him that well, he's in Ravenclaw. I met him when I was talking to Parvati's sister once, and he's really nice."

Both boys looked doubtful about this.

"So you are allowed to ask someone from another house, then," said Harry thoughtfully.

"Yeah," said Tina. "Wait…why?"

"No reason, just wondering," Said Harry quickly, but he was slightly red around the ears.

Ron didn't seem to notice this. He merely looked at Harry now and said, "We _should_ get a move on, you know…ask someone. Fred's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."

Tina raised her eyebrows and Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.

"A pair of…_what_, excuse me?"

"Well — you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with — with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately — and she's really nice!"

"Her nose is off-center," said Ron.

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er — yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.

"What's wrong with her?" said Ron.

"No idea," said Harry.

Tina sat sputtering at the two of them for a full minute before she spoke.

"You people are sick," she said, looking more disgusted and offended than amused. "No wonder you two haven't got dates for the ball."

Then she got up and stomped towards her dormitory, pausing only once to look back at them and shake her head hopelessly.

**A/N: I had to have that there, I'm sorry. Whether or not George Weasley would actually ask me to the ball, I will never know, but the twins rocked, and I had to try. Plus, Anandini77 recommended it, too, so that clinched it! Blame her! **

**Now, this is hard to remember if you haven't read the book incredibly recently, but Fred and George showed up asking for Pig to send a letter, and Ron's eyebrows are singed because he made a card castle with his Exploding Snap deck which blew up in his face. **

**Anandini77- **Yes! I really liked the idea of Tina and Terry because I wanted it to be someone unfamiliar. Someone who I could make into my own character, too. Plus, he's a Ravenclaw, so he's smart. (hehe) I am going to use the bit about the Harry-Hermione-Krum triangle later on, but I won't be giving that away just yet. I felt sorry for Neville too! But, we must remember that he didn't 'fancy' Hermione, so he wasn't crushed, just maybe a little taken aback. And he bounced back quick enough to ask Ginny, didn't he? Oh, and Tina wasn't surprised to find him in the common room, she was surprised to find him reading. After all, he isn't the most studious person. If you care to know, he was reading _Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean_, as we know this book will prove to be quite helpful. There will be girl bonding for Tina and Ginny, of course! I don't know if it'll be on the Quidditch field, though. You think I'd make a good Chaser? I always saw myself as Seeker, since my hand-eye coordination at catching and throwing things isn't that great. But yes, they will get a moment. Possibly in Book 5, though, with a smaller one in Book 4. Yes, yes, yes, I absolutely _have_ to show the four of them in class! And both the classes you mentioned will be the ones I use. I gotta say, half this story just may be your ideas.

**Padfoot, Prongs and Moony (though Moony seems to be the only one reviewing…) - **Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! Sirius is coming! He'll be in Book 5, though, that's the one where we see him with people besides Harry a bit more. Tasks in the tournament? Excellent idea. I'll most definitely be using that one. Rita Skeeter is so cool! Okay, granted, she's a back-stabbing cheating scum, but she's just…_cool_. You have to admit that she'd make a great spy for the Order, too. I was planning on having Tina do something to her (one of those things I always long to do but never get pushed over the edge enough to actually _do_ them. Rita, however, is going to push me/Tina over the edge to the point of doing it. Did that make sense?). But the problem is that I know Rita would get some sort of revenge. That's that part I don't know how to write. I don't know what she can do to Tina! Argh, I need to think. I feel bad for Neville, too! But check my response to **Anandini77** for more on that, I'm too lazy to type it all over again.

**Ronkid8829- **Thanks!

**Tekvah Ariel- **As I wrote to **Padfoot, Prongs and Moony** just now, see my response to **Anandini77** for the explanation on Neville. I really do like the kid! Sorry if I gave you writer's block! Bad Proma, bad bad Proma! :: hits herself with the lamp like Dobby:: Ouch. Tina does go to the library with Hermione, not all the time, but more than the boys, because they both have Ancient Runes. I think I already told you about Krum's 'stalkerish' behavior, right? Well, just in case, we have to remember that he did only come to the library to talk to Hermione. In all those times that he didn't, he must've learned a lot about her without trying to.

**Venus725- **Oh! You used the word 'perfectly' and you were talking about something _I_ did! That, I am not used to. But thank you, thank you, thank you! Glad you like Viktor. He's actually a pretty easy person to write. He's just very…simple, I guess. (And trollish, but in a non-freaky way.) Yes, I love R/H! But, I've pretty much never seen a fic that pulls it off. (And if I have, I just can't remember right now) The D/H a lot more people (like you!) can pull off, because it isn't foreshadowed in the books and Draco and Hermione were never friends to start out with. You have an R/H fic??? I _have_ to read it! Or did I already? I dunno. I'll read it again! But yeah, the whole Harry/Hermione thing just strikes me as odd. I just…can't bring myself to see it at all, or like it much, either. Except in **Tekvah Ariel**'s story, because they're still very much friends. Glad you enjoyed the girl moment! There's more where that one came from, let me tell you now. I like Ginny and Hermione being friends, too, but they don't really see each other as much as Hermione and Tina can. Ginny's in a different year, and has no classes with Hermione. Tina, on the other, does. I just love that I can do that, though! Plug myself in to do what Ginny can't, I mean. Don't get me wrong, the three of them are good friends, too, but just as Ron and Harry are better friends than Hermione and Harry, Tina and Hermione are better friends than Hermione and Ginny. Yes, Hermione, does like Vicky, even if it isn't really the same as 'Vik' feels for her. But the fact is that whenever someone likes you, you just can't help but enjoy that fact. Yes, Malfoy interaction coming soon, but he may not be returned from my fic in flawless condition. I don't know how exactly I feel about Malfoy. I probably don't 'like' him, though. Tom Felton's good-looking, no doubt about that, but when I read the books, I always seem to see Malfoy as a sort…short person, and because he's got an ugly personality, I see him as ugly in the books. That and he's complete scum. Hope I'm not offending you or anything. I do like the Malfoy in your fic, though. Him, I could enjoy meeting. Maybe.

**Review! See how long a response you can get? But the response must fit the review…**


	10. Indian Girls

**Author's Note: I LOVE writing this Yule Ball stuff! I should have a fic that's completely focused on the ball! Well, actually I guess this would be it. Well…the Yule Ball isn't the focus of my fic, but it is the focus of these few chapters. Enough of my rambling, read the next chapter. **

**Padfoot****! I know how much you want to see Sirius, and I assure you, he's coming. He won't be in any of the Book 4 scenes, though. But just so you know how long it is before he appears, I have about…eight or so more chapters for Book 4 (it's clearly my favorite) Please bear with me! He's on his way!**

**And this one was in fact MY idea! Well, the last one was too, but I wasn't sure about it until Anandini77 cheered it on. **

Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice, and Tina had just sat down apparently doing the same but looking rather amused.

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, joining them.

Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face.

"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"

"What?" said Harry.

"He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She and Tina exchanged glances and she looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.

"You _what_?" said Harry.

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people — all around — I've gone mad — everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall — she was standing there talking to Diggory — and it sort of came over me — and I asked her!"

Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, thought the words were barely distinguishable. Tina's lip twitched.

"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then — I dunno — I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it." At this both Tina and Ginny looked more sympathetic than amused.

"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right — her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it — but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

Ron looked up.

"I asked her to go with me just now," Harry said dully. "And she told me."

Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling. Tina looked at Harry as though he had just told Snape what to do with his bezoar.

"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone — well, except Neville. Hey — guess who he asked? _Hermione_!"

"What?" said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news.

"Yeah, I know!" said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff — but she told him she was going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville…I mean, who would?"

"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh--"

Tina was staring at the two boys with a look of utter disbelief. "Insensitive jerk," she muttered, shaking her head at Ron. Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Why did you leave, dinner early, Tina?" she said, coming over to join them. "And why weren't you two _at_ dinner?"

"Because — oh shut up laughing, you two — because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.

That shut Harry and Ron up.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.

"Oh, trust me, you deserve it," said Tina.

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find _someone_ who'll have you."

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

"Hermione, Neville's right — you _are_ a girl…"

"Oh well spotted," she said acidly. Tina was smiling again, in a sly sort of way.

"Well—you can come with one of us!" cried Ron.

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

"Oh, come on," he said impatiently. "We need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"

"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."

"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

"Oh, _did_ I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed. Tina and Ginny were looking at Ron it complete outrage. "Just because it's taken _you_ three years to notice, doesn't mean that no one _else_ has spotted I'm a girl!"

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"

And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.

"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.

"She's not," said Ginny quietly.

"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.

"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.

"Yeah," said Tina acidly. "And why do you care? It's not like you'd be happy for her or anything."

"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "This is getting stupid. Ginny, _you_ can go with Harry, and I'll just--"

"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with — with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought…well…I'm got going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go have dinner," she said, and she got up ad walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.

Ron goggled at Harry as though Tina wasn't even there.

"What's got into them?" he demanded.

"Ron, not everyone's like you," said Tina glaring at him. However, this remark seemed to restore some of her amusement and she said, "Not everyone finds getting a date to be as hard as staying awake in History of Magic. Though I have to say you aren't alone in your ways. Got anything to say for yourself, Harry, O Blind One?"

But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole. The time had come for drastic action.

"Wait here," he said to Ron, completely ignoring Tina, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati and said, "Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"

Harry could just see Tina's open mouth out of the corner of his eye as Parvati went into a fit of giggles. He waited for them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes.

"Yes, all right then," she said finally, blushing furiously.

"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender — will you go with Ron?"

"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati, and the pair of the giggled harder than ever.

Harry sighed.

"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn't hear.

"Let's see…" said Parvati, thinking. "Tina's got a date, so has Lavender…what about Hermione Granger?"

"She's going with someone else.

Parvati looked astonished.

"Ooooh — _who_?" she said keenly.

Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"

"Well…" said Parvati slowly. "I suppose my sister might…Padma, you know…in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."

"Yeah, that would be great," said Harry. "Let me know, will you?"

And he went back to Ron, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping very much that Padma Patil's nose was dead center. As he sat down next to Ron, Tina looked at them both disbelievingly.

"You know," she said. "If you had a thing for Indian girls, there was one right under your nose that might not have giggled as much if you asked her. Of course, Terry Boot beat you two to that one, but I would've dumped him for one of you two idiots in a heartbeat." She grinned at her own sarcasm then sighed. "Parvati and Padma have no idea what they're getting themselves into."

Ron gave her a questioning look.

"Oh, come _on_!" cried Tina in exasperation. "I mean, there's you Ron, who'll go with any cranky old skunk as long as she looks like a model. How shallow can you be? And then there's you, Harry, the tactless moron who'll say right in front of Ginny -- whose feelings you're well aware of -- that you asked out another girl! I mean, are you two daft or something?" She said this all very fast so it was difficult for Harry and Ron to understand. Harry fought back a grin at Tina's use of a British word.

"What's wrong with any of that?" asked Ron innocently.

Tina looked as though she might burst. Indeed, the color of her face was somewhat reminiscent of Uncle Vernon, though not as vivid. She opened her mouth to speak several times, then made a very angry noise from some region of her throat and stomped, yet again, up to the girls' dormitories.

**A/N: Well, what do you think? As much as I love Harry and Ron I had to give them a good telling off for their ignorance. But, as you can see, it didn't work. It's not supposed to, though; they have to stay stupid through book five. Besides, it's not like they'll ever get girls! Oh, and thought Tina said she'd dump Terry for them as a joke, I can't say I was kidding when I wrote that…(but they do need to take 'How Girls think 101')**

**Tekvah**** Ariel- **I know what you mean. I would probably dump Terry for George, too, but I want to show that Tina/I would be true to her/my word and not do that. Besides, to Tina, George is just a friend, and to me…well, I promised my friend she could have George and I'd take Fred. I just need to get Angelina out of the way…

**Venus725**- You're Draco isn't that OOC, trust me, I've read people who make him out to be an Earth Angel. So not. I will try to read your Ron/Hermione fic, but I must say that I'm quite happy with your Draco/Hermione one, and I don't know if I'll have time. Teehee Tom Felton is definitely something worth looking at, at least when his cerebral cortex isn't coated with WD-40. And when he doesn't have that look on his face like he's got something nasty under his nose. But he only has both those charming qualities on screen, so in real life, he's worth looking at! But, I have to confess, I do like Daniel Radcliffe more. I didn't think he was cute until like, the third movie--I actually found Tom Felton cute first—but, I don't know something about him just got me. I think it got a lot of the female population of this planet. I think agree about your analysis of 'fluff'. Well, not always, I do like warm fuzzies, but when it has to do with Draco, people are crossing lines. He'll recover from his encounter with me, but it'll hurt all right. Yeah, I love Harry and Ron, but as I said, they had to get a good telling off. I tell all my friends off ('specially the guy ones) all the time, so that was pretty easy to write. George asking me is probably pure fantasy, but I couldn't resist. After all, it's fiction, is it not? Vicky is definitely simple, but I think that's what makes him funny as a character, and so blissfully easy to write. Thanks so much for your long reviews! Hope they don't get shorter in the future!

**xBlackMoon****y- **Nice penname. Again, Sirius is coming, but I have to finish my Book four stuff first. All my reviewers are so psychic! How did you know I was planning on doing the D.A. scenes? Well, okay, I guess that one was obvious because it's so COOL! Actually, I've never given my Patronus much thought, I'll have to find out what it is. Some fan site must have a quiz on that or something. What did you do to Padfoot? Well, I read your story, so you know how much I like it. You're on my favorites list, and I expect to see frequent updates. ::pointed stare:: Oh, no, that review didn't sound snobby at all! It was totally fine, and as for the rambling, I thank you for it!

**The Shadows- **Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! You're reviews are so valuable to me, thanks a TON for reviewing my story. It always means a lot when a really good author on the site reviews your story. Yeah, I've been a little disgusted with my first chapter for a while because I was able to do so little to change it or show Tina. But, as you can see, I've come a long way in character inserts since then! (Hopefully) I completely understand what you said about the POVs, and now that I've just reread your reviews, I think I'm going to rewrite chapters one and two. I won't change them a lot, just tweak them a bit applying your critique. I'm really glad you liked chapter three! That one was pretty easy to write, given I could put a lot more of MY thought into it as Tina what with the letters and all. Tina smitten by Harry???? You think so???? Well, I might be, but I still see him as more of a friend when I read the books. And since in the story he _is_ my friend, that's all I see him as. I tease all my guy friends like that all the time and I'm definitely not smitten by them. (::shudder::) I think the letters are like that because I want to show that Tina has a unique friendship with Harry, as do Ron and Hermione. Tina is sort of a cross between the two. For example, she teases Harry the way Ron might, and cares for him the way Hermione might. But, when Tina teases Harry, she adds a touch of girl, and cares for him less…emotionally than Hermione. Am I making sense or just stringing words together? Anyway, I hope you get what I mean by that, because Ron and Hermione both have qualities that I do. I've always thought Divination was kind of interesting. Of course, Trelawney may not be the best person to take it from, but still, I decided Tina has to give the subject some credit, and since she's sort of friends with Parvati, she can't have the same attitude towards it that Hermione does. So, again, thank you so much for your reviews, and I hope there's more! J

**apocatha**I did have a pretty good idea about what nuances were, but I needed to be sure. That ice cream sounds really good! Thought I'd probably prefer a 'nuance' of raspberry. I'm so glad you like this story and think I'm creative! But, I must confess, I am not the creator of Quodpot. J.K. Rowling came up with that too; it's in _Quidditch__ Through the Ages._ But, as you said, I do have to shed light on those things Jo hasn't thrust into the center of the stage yet. And, to compensate, I did come up with those erasers. I'm quite proud of those actually, because they're one of those things that I can actually see being mentioned in the books. The pencils I find a little lame, but I couldn't come up with anything else at that point, and I'd left that part of the sentence blank for over an hour. You have a lot in common with **Venus725**. She also wants me to have Tina talk to a certain blonde Slytherin. To both of you I will only say: he's coming.

**Padfoot****, Prongs and Moony- **Hi there! Sorry if I've made it sound like I'm nagging you to read the story, but I value the opinions of my favorite authors! Anyway, you have a good excuse, if you weren't working on the Lonely Hearts in your spare time, I might cry. Yes, I've always liked Fred's invite to Angelina incredibly cool! Mainly because I don't know anyone with the guts to do that. As for Tina going with Terry and not someone else, er…check my review to **Tekvah**** Ariel**. Once again, I'm too lazy to type it again. I need to work on that. ::laughing as she reads the review again:: I like your idea for putting Sirius in here. I may add the shirt thing. Gyah, I'm messed up. ::smacks herself in the face:: Blah. But don't worry; he's coming, as I said at the beginning of this chapter, so your thirst shall be quenched. And as for where you could put Sirius, I think Sirius of the Caribbean sounds like it has potential…

**Review! I'm soooo close to the fifty review mark! **


	11. Girl Fun

**Author's Note: It seems my reviewers are deserting me. Three reviews? ::wipes away a tear:: Come on, guys, you can't get my hopes up then do this to me! Now, I expect lots of reviews from EVERYONE for this chapter, and I want 'em good and long. **

**Everyone read Tekvah Ariel's fic which I edited from chapter sixteen! No, really, I mean it. You guys _have_ to read this. It's really good, and I'm ever so proud of beta-ing it. And make sure that (once it's posted) (under her penname) you all read our Fred/Angelina fic! She and I are very excited about co-writing this! It's sort of a spin off of _Hermione Queen of Witches_ and _Ron Rants_ by Arabella on the Sugarquill. (A must-read as well!!!) **

**Check out my favorite stories and authors! I know my great readers will love them; they're FANTASTIC!**

**This was a really fun chapter to write. Probably because it is now officially rather girly, but in this case, the story was just asking for it. **

After pelting a last snowball at Fred — which hit him square in the ear — Tina followed Hermione up to the castle to get ready.

"What, you need three hours?" asked Ron (As a result, Tina heard the sound of a large snowball hitting the side of his head). "Who're you going with?" he hollered at the back of Hermione's head, but she and Tina simply waved and disappeared inside the castle.

Chortling at the thought of Ron's face when he saw Hermione and her date, the two girls reached the portrait hole.

"Fairy Lights," said Tina. The Fat Lady and her friend Violet were getting rather drunk, and she swung open with a giggle followed by an enormous hiccough.

"Okay," said Tina. "I'll go up and get the stuff ready and…you can wait for Ginny. She'll be here soon enough; it's not her fault George put that freezing charm on her and stuck her in a giant orange ice cube."

She hurried up the stairs into the dormitory. She wasn't alone. Parvati and Lavender appeared to have started getting ready about half an hour earlier; they were drying each other's hair with their wands.

"Hello, Tina," said Lavender cheerfully.

"Hey, what's up?" Tina replied, watching the 'wand-drying' with interest.

"Oh, this?" said Parvati airily, noticing the direction of Tina's gaze. "It's a useful little spell I managed to create. Took about two years, but it's useful. Dries hair within minutes. See, like this: _Aquibo_!" The lock of Lavender's chestnut brown hair she had been holding suddenly glowed as though there were millions of minute light bulbs within it. When the light vanished, her hair was dry.

"Sweet!" cried Tina. (Parvati and Lavender exchanged a raised eyebrow) "Mind if I use that later today?"

"No, no, feel free!"

At that moment, Hermione came up into the dormitory with Ginny right behind her.

"Oh, hello Hermione, hello Ginny," said Parvati, nodding her head at each of them. They returned the gesture. Tina heaved a sigh of relief. Hopefully, this could be one of the select times where they all got along.

"Hey, Gin," she said with a grin. Ginny's face was still rather orange, and her left hand wasn't moving much. "Just wondering, why don't you go to your dorm and wash your hair? Then we can all meet up in here and get ready." She added in an undertone, "Parvati's got a neat little hairdryer hidden in that stick of wood, you know."

The girls bathed quickly, too excited about the ball to take long (though Tina took the liberty to use a few special soaps). Then they put on their bathrobes and used Parvati's spell.

"How am I going to make my hair lie flat?" said Hermione dismally.

"Er…" Lavender, who had incredibly silky hair, was looking at Ginny, Tina, and Parvati as though hoping they might pull the answer out of a hat. However, Ginny came quite close.

"Oh!" she cried, suddenly realizing what Hermione had asked. "I have some of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in my trunk, shall I go get it?"

Hermione nodded fervently, her hands pressing her bushy mane to her face.

"Relax," said Tina. "It'll be fine. And somehow, I have a feeling that V—" she cast a quick glance at Lavender and Parvati. "That _your date_ won't care how your hair looks."

Parvati and Lavender looked incredibly interested at this point. Parvati seemed to be dying to say something, which came out within seconds, "Who _are_ you going with Hermione?"

"A boy," she replied, suddenly becoming quite interested in some make-up on the table in front of her.

"No," said Lavender. "We mean _who_, as in a person?"

"Yeah, Harry said you were going with someone, you've got to tell us!"

"I — I can't," said Hermione finally. "Not that I don't trust you, but I don't know what you'd say. Besides, you'll find out soon enough."

"Oh, but we can't _wait_!" moaned Lavender.

"Guys, leave her alone," said Tina, grinning. "Trust me, there's enough pressure on her. And she's like a rock, she won't tell you who she's going with. Though —" she cast an oddly furtive look at Parvati and Lavender. "You may want to bring up who she _isn't_ going with."

Parvati's mouth formed a perfect 'O'.

"Yes…" said Lavender. "I was wondering about that. Hermione, what's all this about you going with some stranger?"

"What about it?" she said shortly.

"Well…" Parvati's mouth broke into a sly smile, though at the same time she was shuffling her feet rather awkwardly. "We always thought you'd do something like this with…someone else."

"Who?" asked Hermione, throwing down the lipstick she had been twirling between her fingers.

"Just someone you _know_ better —"

"_Who_?"

"Er…Ron Weasley." Said Lavender. She cringed as though waiting for the blow to fall.

"_What_?" cried Hermione. "Me and — and _Ron_? No, I…never…he's so…oh, tell them Tina I'm too angry…"

"Well," said Tina as though she was negotiating peace between nations. "They don't mean you two are _perfect_ for each other, just that you'd…make a good couple."

Hermione scowled at her and muttered something that sounded like, "If I'm a hinkypunk."

Tina decided to show the other nation's view.

"Well, Parvati, Lavender, also you two need to understand that…Ron just doesn't get girls. I mean, no guys really do, but Ron's a bit _too_ clueless. He can be sort of…insensitive, and shallow. More than Harry." Parvati looked slightly alarmed at that.

Ginny finally came through the door with the Hair Potion.

"Sorry I took so long," she said as she handed the bottle to Hermione. "Colin Creevey held me up in the common room. He wanted to know if there's a way to get his photos up on the walls with all the portraits. Honestly…"

They all changed into their dress robes then. Parvati was wearing pink robes which astonishingly enough went perfectly with her bangles. Lavender's robes were teal with bits of design in primrose, and Ginny's were a shade of green that did wonders for her brown eyes. Hermione's periwinkle blue robes made her look all the more elegant (or 'posh' as Tina put it, only to have the other four giggle). Tina felt quite excited about her robes, though. They were red, and had Indian designs embroidered onto them in gold and silver thread. Parvati had fawned over it for a little while, thinking it to have cost a fortune. Tina had waited a considerable amount of time before telling her that that was not the case.

Hermione seemed to have forgotten all mention of Ron as other four girls began to coat her hair with Sleekeazy's. Ginny refused to let her look in the mirror before they were finished, and Tina insisted on putting it up into an elegant bun atop her head.

"Okay," Tina said finally. She and her three fellow hair stylists were looking at Hermione's head with the utmost pride. "You can look."

Hermione took the mirror from Lavender (who looked slightly jealous of Hermione's silky bun, which was quite something) looking rather apprehensive, but when she saw her reflection she stifled a scream. "Oh!" she cried, and that was all she could do other than beam at the four of them.

Next was Tina's hair, which she decided she wanted to keep open. "It's always up," she complained. _There's probably a permanent dent in it from the scrunchies,_ she thought to herself. Ginny and Parvati pulled it up on either side of her head with two ornamental bobby pins she gave them. "Ooh!" she said when she saw it. "I could've never done that myself."

Parvati insisted on her usual braid, but Ginny took the liberty of suggesting bits of gold added to it, which Tina gladly did. Parvati seemed rather shocked at the difference it made.

Lavender's hair took perhaps longest of all. Tina and Parvati braided the first three inches of the hair at the front of her face to her head, and then tied it, letting the rest blend in with her open hair.

"Just like they do in Mexico," said Tina proudly as Lavender gleefully patted her braids.

Ginny said she wanted her hair to be simple and casual, but at this Hermione, whose bun hadn't moved an inch, refused point-blank. "You're going to look fit for the queen's banquet," she said, and apparently that put an end to it. Parvati tied Ginny's flaming red hair into a half ponytail, and then Hermione tapped it with her wand so that there were little bits of what looked like glitter in it. She also brought out two small bunches of hair to frame Ginny's face.

"Nice one," said Tina, and they slapped a high-five, something Hermione usually refrained from consenting to do.

Tina and Parvati put themselves in charge of doing everyone's foundation and blush, while Lavender took up the lip liner and lipstick. Ginny proved herself quite handy with an eye pencil, and Hermione shocked everyone by picking the perfect eye shadow to go with each set of dress robes.

Parvati had a great assortment of jewelry that she let everyone choose from. Hermione took what appeared to be a bracelet of silver pearls, and Lavender a sparkling chain with a flower as its charm. Parvati herself chose a set of jingling golden bangles and a necklace to match, while Ginny chose a simple silver chain with a single pearl hanging off one end. Tina had her own jewelry: a necklace of gold with silver decoration and small garnets (fake ones, she reminded herself, but then again so was all their jewelry) hanging off of it. Her bangles were the same.

Finally, they were ready. Parvati kept fiddling with her bangles, as did Tina, and Ginny was chewing her fingernails (Lavender constantly flinched at the sight of this), and Hermione was nervously flattening out her robes as she bade them good-bye and left for the Durmstrang ship where she would meet Vik. Tina felt a little twang of glee and pride as this happened, making a mental note to be very close to Ron when Hermione came by so that she could see his face.

"All right, girls," said Parvati, as though they were about to go to war. "Let's go."

Then they climbed down the staircase and out the portrait hole to meet their partners. ****

**A/N Too girly? Sorry, I couldn't help it! Like I said, it was really fun to write, though. **

**I've decided to only write the ball from Tina's POV. I may switch to Harry's throughout the chapter for those choice things I want him to notice, but I don't want to have to do that because it gets confusing. **

**Venus725- **Glad you enjoyed the telling off, and I'm positively delighted that you were clutching your sides laughing. Dan Radcliffe is seriously too cute to be legal. I can't believe I never thought even the slightest thing about him before number three. Yes, the Yule Ball's in the next chapter, followed by none other than Malfoy! Plus, I've started Book five, so I'll be setting up for those scenes, including Sirius. I love him, too! I'm upset that he wasn't hott in the movies though. We all know he and Lupin should be. Somehow, I can't see Hermione with bulimia, but I'm sure you made it work!

**xBlackMoon****-****y**- Yep, Terry's about to be a bit more in the spotlight. I'm having fun fantasizing about him. Trust me, I look NOTHING like Uncle Vernon. In fact, I never really change color, but I had to show Tina's anger somehow. I don't know why books four and five just seemed to strike me as best, but they did. Everyone thinks I'm weird because PoA isn't my favorite, but GoF is best to me, followed ever so closely by OotP. Hospital Wing, eh? Excellent, must use that… Oh, I haven't been able to check your bio yet for what you did to Padfoot, but you can be rest assured I'll do that within twenty-four hours of posting this! Oh, I wish I'd thought to do more of Lupin in Book three, but I didn't. Stupid Proma! Argh, I guess I could try to work him into Book five, but I'm not sure how well I can. Fingers crossed!

**Tekvah**** Ariel- **Argh! I'm not infatuated with Harry! I mean, _I_ am, but like I think I said before, I do see him as more of a friend. And since he _is_ Tina's friend, she isn't infatuated with him.


	12. The Yule Ball

**Hey, guys! Sorry I took so long in updating, but I've had homework, the carnival's in town, and my cousins are staying here for week (since they're four and two, that means they need extra attention!). Also, I've been busy with the fic that Tekvah Ariel and I are co-writing. It's called Braids and Boils — everyone read it! It's Fred/Angelina corresponding diary entries in fifth year. Leave us a review, we love that!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Tekvah Ariel, my 50th reviewer!**

**And so, finally, the end of the Yule Ball Saga. ::wipes away tear:: It was fun, but I can't say I'm really that sad about ending, because there's still LOADS MORE TO WRITE!!!!! And I think I need a little change of pace. Requests and OotP in mind, I'm once again creating a little chart to prop up onto my desk next to the computer (just like Jo!). This story is far from ending. **

**Also, this is the longest chapter yet. The longest one before this was chapter ten, and that was about 41 kilobytes in document format. This one is a whopping 58kbs, so it should satisfy. Hopefully…**

**For those who were upset with the girly tone of the last chapter, fear not, the worst is over…this is still a little girly, which is now surprising me, as I'm not as girly as either of these chapters implies, but I suppose it's fun to let my hair down once in a while…blah, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore…or do I…oh, just read, don't make me keep talking!**

Tina, Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny were waiting in the hall for their dates. Parvati and Lavender were chatting excitedly and Ginny was examining her makeup in a suit of armor.

"You know," she said thoughtfully. "It turned out quite nice."

"Of course it did," said Tina in an obvious voice. "I mean, I never wear more than a little eyeliner myself, but we did a great job. Not too much, not to little…see, it's enough to cover up that little cut on my cheek, but not enough to cover up your fabulous freckles, friend."

They laughed. At that moment, Neville came stumbling through the down the staircase, followed by the other four boys in his dormitory. Ginny looked at him sadly, and Tina could tell she was thinking mournfully of what might have been.

"He — hello, Ginny," Neville said, fumbling with the sleeves of his robes. He finally untwisted the right one then offered her his arm. Ginny raised her eyebrows at Tina looking rather impressed, and the pair of them trooped out of the portrait hole and into the entrance hall.

Dean, Seamus, Harry, and Ron came down the stairs almost immediately. Ron was wearing maroon robes with bits of white thread hanging off the ends of his neck and sleeves. He was tugging at a particularly long piece when he reached the bottom of the stairs. Harry was wearing emerald green robes as he walked over to Parvati.

"You — er — look nice," he said sounding awkward.

"Thanks," she said. "Padma's going to meet you in the entrance hall," she added to Ron.

"Right," he said. Tina had the feeling he wouldn't really care if Padma had been waiting at Durmstrang. "Where's Hermione?"

Parvati shrugged, but Tina grinned excitedly. "She's gone to meet _her date_," She emphasized the last words and could almost see Ron flinching at the sound.

Seamus had offered Lavender his arm, just as Neville had for Ginny, and now the two of them left (Lavender cast a gleeful look at Parvati).

"Shall we go down then, Harry?" asked Parvati.

""Okay," said Harry. Tina and Ron followed him out and Tina, no longer able to bear it, gave the long white thread dangling from Ron's sleeve a mighty tug and it came off.

Parvati found Padma with several other Ravenclaws and brought her over to Harry, Ron, and Tina. Tina saw some turquoise from the corner of her eye, but she wasn't interested in Padma; she was looking at the boy behind her. Terry Boot had just detached himself from the same crowd of Ravenclaws that Padma had been in and was making his way over to her. Tina ran a nervous hand through her hair.

"Hello, Tina," said Terry softly. Tina felt her cheeks going warm, something that didn't really happen to her much because of her complexion. Terry offered her a small white flower which she took, unable to resist a smile that depicted her ecstatic mood.

"Oh, Terry….it's beautiful," she said, beaming at him. Tina took a whiff, and it smelled like a jasmine. _Perfect_, she thought happily.

"You're not so bad yourself, you know," he said, examining her robes with interest. Tina was glad he had sounded a bit more casual this time; it wasn't the sort of statement that would have done as well in the soft voice he'd used earlier.

"Neither are you," she said with a grin. It was no lie; Terry was wearing robes of the same turquoise as Padma's, but they were different because they were much darker. His somewhat light brown hair was hanging over his eyes just a little, and Tina had a feeling she might faint.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering her his arm. With another delighted grin, Tina took his arm, and she, Ron, Padma, Harry, Parvati, and Terry lined up to enter the Great Hall. However, within a few minutes, Parvati and Harry detached themselves from the herd to go and stand where the champions were. Ron waved good-bye to his friend dully, but Tina yanked his arm and followed Harry and his date while Terry and Ron exchanged a bewildered look.

The champions and their partners were lined up just outside the doors of the Hall. Fleur and Roger were standing next to Cedric and Cho, and Harry and Parvati were next to none other than Hermione and Viktor Krum. Tina bit her lip in anticipation, looking from Harry, to Ron, to Hermione and waiting.

It happened all at once. Harry was simply scanning the other champions and their partners when his eyes doubled back to Hermione. His jaw dropped. Parvati gave the same reaction at the same time, but she looked a little more jealous. Even Terry looked mildly shocked, but impressed, and Tina felt a surge of pride towards him. But Ron's was the reaction she had been most anxious to see, and he didn't let her down on that account. He had been looking at the champions' partners, as had Harry, and when he saw Hermione, his mouth was nearly level with the flagged stone floor. His eyes, which had been wandering lazily, suddenly looked ready to pop out of his head and in a fraction of a second his hair color had spread throughout his entire face. It was almost as memorable a sight as Malfoy the Ferret.

After a few seconds, Ron seemed to realize what he looked like, so he dropped his drugged appearance and settled for glaring at Tina.

"What?" she said innocently. "Ron, you know you wouldn't've let her live it down if she told you."

"I…." he stuttered. "I…you….she….but….he — he's older than she is!"

"Poor excuse," Tina replied. "Though I'm still a little worried about that one myself. But still. Just do me a favor and don't give her a hard time about it, okay?"

Ron said nothing, he narrowed his eyes as Hermione and Krum walked by and through the doors into the hall. In that time Harry managed to shoot Tina a glance that clearly asked her if she had known, and she nodded vigorously, unable to hide the grin that seemed to be glued to her face. Harry smiled in turn, but he still looked somewhat numb from shock.

An added bonus reaction came for Tina, however, Malfoy and Pansy came by — looking quite frightening in pink and black; a vicar and a pug — walked by Hermione and Krum, sputtering hopelessly. Tina's grin widened, if that was possible.

She finally turned her attention away from the many people who were watching Hermione in amazement (including 'ze girls zat' follow Krum'), and focused on Terry.

"Sorry," she said to him. "But their reactions were definitely worth seeing." She glanced at Malfoy and Pansy once more and Terry laughed.

The Great Hall was no doubt at its best. The walls were covered in mistletoe and sparkling frost, and the ceiling was covered in stars of the perfect silver to match. The House tables had been replaced by a series of small tables like those at restaurants, except they seated around twelve people.

Tina, Ginny, Padma, Terry, Ron, and Neville seated themselves at a table. They were soon joined by Lisa Turpin, a girl in Ravenclaw who had golden-blonde hair and pale blue eyes, and her date, a chestnut haired boy named Anthony Goldstein who Tina knew as Terry's best friend.

However, none of the conversations lasted very long, because after taking the hint from Dumbledore, everyone in the Hall began to eat.

"Er…chicken and mashed potatoes!" Tina called to her plate. They appeared. "Cool," she said gleefully and the rest of the table seemed to feel the same way. "Can I get some gravy with those?" Tina added. The gravy appeared and right on top of the potatoes, too. After asking for a salad and dressing as well, they began to eat. Conversation during dinner was mostly amongst friends and not partners, as Padma was gossiping with Lisa and Anthony with Terry. Ron didn't seem to want to talk to Tina, so she was talking to Neville, and Tina ignored him and chatted with Ginny. Since they were the only two who had known about Hermione and Vik, they shared in the delight at everyone's reactions.

"Did you see Malfoy?" asked Ginny, shoveling pork chops into her mouth.

"Yes!" cried Tina with an equal amount of potatoes in hers. "He looked about ready to cough up a grindylow." Ginny snorted, spraying bits of pork all over the tablecloth. Tina added thoughtfully, "Not that that wouldn't've been cool, though,"

Dessert consisted of several pastries for the two girls, and the table was now sprayed with chocolate crumbs as Ginny told Tina how her recent mastering of the Bat-Bogey-Hex had gotten her six Ton-Tongue Toffees off Fred and George for free.

Then the Weird Sisters came on stage. Tina clapped with the rest; though she had never been an especially big fan of the Weird Sisters, she still liked their music a great deal. She made a mental note of their artfully ripped clothing.

They started with a slow tune, and Parvati and Harry were amongst those starting off the dancing. Parvati appeared to be steering and Harry was sort of spinning in one place as she did. Neville and Ginny then went out onto the dance floor, followed by Anthony and Lisa. Terry offered Tina his hand and placed the other on her waist as they began to dance.

They talked while they danced, moving slowly from one end of the room to the other, getting to know one another as the Weird Sisters set the mood. After the slow dance came a faster and more energetic one in which the bass player shook his mane of dirty blond hair quite a lot. Tina spotted Hermione and Krum nearby, and the latter seemed to be having a great deal of fun. Indeed, he was dancing with so much enthusiasm that his fan club looked a little scared. Tina and Terry exchanged a quick glance then walked over.

"'Sup, 'Maya?" said Tina quietly as they approached. She knew that name would get her friend's attention because she had only used it once before: when she thought of it. Tina never used it because the two of them had decided it didn't suit Hermione very much, but Tina used it this time to get her attention.

"Oh, hello," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Who knew Viktor liked to dance so much? You'd think he's never had any fun in his life from the way he's letting loose now."

"I doubt it'll last," said Tina, casting a mournful glance at Krum. She and Hermione grinned at each other. "Come on," she said. "Let's take a little break. Terry! Vik!"

The four of them sat down at a table, soon joined by Ginny and Neville. Terry and Neville were somewhat awestruck by Krum, but before they could say anything, another of Terry's friends came and sat at the table. Terry introduced them.

"Tina, this is Michael Corner and Mandy Brocklehurst. Michael's in third year, but Mandy's in ours." Everyone shook hands politely with Michael and Mandy, but Ginny suddenly had an odd expression on her face as she did. After she let go of Michael's hand, she seized Tina and Hermione and waited till they were a good ten feet from the table before explaining.

"What did you do that for?" said Hermione, looking utterly bewildered.

"That boy," said Ginny in a breathless voice. "That…Michael Corner…he's rather cute, don't you think?"

"Not our place to say," said Tina. "We're taken."

"Well, hold on a minute," said Hermione thoughtfully, casting a glance back at the table. "He is rather good-looking."

Tina in turn stole a look at Michael. She raised her eyebrows at Ginny. "You're right." She said, her eyebrows now on the point of disappearing into her hairline.

"Well," said Ginny. "What should I do? I mean, I came with Neville and he came with that Mandy girl, but if I could just…"

"Go for it," said Tina. Ginny stared at her. "Go…for…it." She repeated. "Well, at least talk to him tonight, so as not to hurt Neville, but make him like you. Make him want you the way you want him, and then grant his wish."

Both Ginny and Hermione were looking quite skeptical, as though Tina had just suggested they eat a mandrake for fiber content. After a few seconds Hermione looked up and nodded at Tina. "It's a plan." Ginny was still looking at the both of them, asking them with her eyes to reconsider, but Hermione shook her head. At long last, Ginny gave in.

"I'm no good at this, though," she said, straightening her robes and flattening her hair. "If I was, Harry wouldn't be dancing with Parvati…"

"Forget about Harry," said Hermione.

"Yeah," added Tina. "Look to the future." She pointed at Michael. That was perhaps what strengthened Ginny's resolve as she stood up and floated to the table, the other two following in her wake.

Tina and Hermione danced with their partners yet again, while Ginny, Neville, Mandy, and Michael remained at the table. After a few minutes, however, Hermione was fanning herself with her hand.

"Oh, it's too hot," she panted, leaning on a nearby table for support. "Viktor, would you do me a favor and get us some drinks?"

"It vould be my pleasure," he replied. "Vear are ze beverages?"

"Over there," said Terry, pointing for him. "Here, I'll go with you. Want anything, Tina?"

"Sure…get me one of those raspberry things with the little umbrella," She said with a smile. The boys nodded and left for the drink table. Tina was in the process of sitting down when Hermione grabbed her arm.

"Ginny was wrong," she said thoughtfully, looking across the Hall. "Harry isn't dancing with anyone. And neither," she added with satisfaction, "is Ron. Come on."

Hermione then took off across the Great Hall much faster than the crowds allowed. Several girls from Beauxbatons were thrown aside into a group of Durmstrang boys, and were shaking their fists at Hermione until they realized where they had landed. Tina tried to keep up but was nearly trampled by Hagrid and Madame Maxime. The good thing about this, though, was that the couple had created a clear path for her to follow. After pushing aside two Hufflepuffs, Tina finally reached the table, where Hermione was sitting looking at Ron in surprise.

"Ron, what —?"

"He's from Durmstrang!" Ron snarled. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You — you're — _fraternizing with the enemy_, that's what you're doing!"

Hermione's mouth fell open. Tina was gawking at Ron, her eyebrows forming a line of complete befuddlement.

"Don't be so stupid!" Hermione said after a bit. "The _enemy_! Honestly — who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"

Tina and Harry exchanged a raised eyebrow and pushed their seats back a little. Ron, meanwhile, chose to ignore everything Hermione had just said.

"I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"

"Yes, he did," said Hermione, glowing pink. "So what?"

"Yeah, so what?" interrupted Tina, glaring at Ron.

"What happened — trying to get him to join _spew_, were you?"

"No, I wasn't!" cried Hermione. "If you _really_ want to know he — he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!"

Tina drew herself up proudly and folded her arms.

"Yeah," said Ron, hesitating slightly then growing nasty once again. "Well — that's his story."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he?" He knows who you hang around with…He's just trying to get closer to Harry — get inside information on him — or get near enough to jinx him —"

"Ron!" cried Tina in outrage. "_How_ can you say that? How can you…_possibly_ be mean enough to suggest that — you're paranoid, that's what it is…you're too stubborn to admit that Vik _does_ like Hermione because you never bothered to care…"

Hermione was shaking slightly. She looked as though she was near tears.

"For your information," Her voice shook as she addressed Ron. "He hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one —"

But Ron acted as though he hadn't heard this and changed the subject at the speed of light.

"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions —"

"I'd _never_ help him work out that egg!" cried Hermione, but it was hopeless, Ron wouldn't hear unless he wanted to. "_Never_. How could you say something like that — I want Harry to win the tournament, Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?"

"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron.

"This whole tournament's supposed to e about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" protested Hermione.

"No it isn't!" yelled Ron. "It's about winning!"

Tina made a noise halfway between a snort and a sputter of disbelief. _Winning?_ People nearby were staring at the scene and Tina could see Terry and Vik halfway across the room with drinks in hand.

"Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum —"

But Ron made no effort whatsoever to listen to Harry either.

"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," he shouted at Hermione.

_"Don't call him Vicky!"_ she cried shrilly.

Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off. Tina got up too, and stared at Ron.

"I asked you one thing," she whispered. "Not to give her a hard time about it. But you couldn't do that, could you? Way to spoil everyone's night, Ron. All because you're paranoid, stubborn, and too blind to see any of it."

Then she turned on her heel to go find Hermione. It was easier said than done; Hermione was walking even faster than before and was making no effort to slow down. Tina finally reached her out in the entrance hall, and had to run in front of her to make her stop.

"Don't listen to him," she said angrily. "He has no idea what he's saying. Stupid, insensitive, stubborn, idiotic…"

"It's almost funny," said Hermione, wiping a tear from her eye. "I've never been hurt by words. I…I always managed to make insults insignificant to me. But this time…"

"You've been insulted by a friend."

Hermione gave a mighty sob and buried her head in Tina's shoulder.

"Come on," said Tina, after awkwardly patting her head for a few minutes. "Stop crying, please? Just…go out there and try to enjoy the rest of the night. Ron…Ron doesn't seem to be having such a great time with his date, seeing as she's nowhere in sight, so he's getting what he deserves. Don't look at or talk to him for the rest of the night. Besides, I saw him and Harry going outside a little while ago."

Hermione finally lifted her head and wiped her eyes on her robes. "Oh, all right," she said in a muffled voice. "I can try. But if Ron so much as looks at me and Viktor —"

"Smack him upside the head." They laughed and Hermione led the way back into the Great Hall. Terry and Vik were waiting with the drink by the door, and Hermione gladly took her pumpkin juice from her partner. Terry handed Tina her drink as well with a questioning glance at Hermione's rather red eyes. Tina shook her head at him to show that it wasn't worth discussing.

The rest of the night went smoothly enough, and Tina and Terry made arrangements to go to the Three Broomsticks together next time they were in Hogsmeade. On the whole, Tina felt that she and Hermione had made the best of the night, and removed Ron from their memories for the night. Hermione went up to bed after saying good bye to Viktor, and Tina and Terry lingered in the entrance hall.

"Well, good night," said Terry awkwardly. He was looking at the ground a bit more than usual, but finally seemed to make up his mind about something as he looked up.

"See you in Hogsmeade," he said, and kissed her on the cheek. Then he walked off towards the West Tower leaving Tina somewhat dazed where she was. She let out a small squeal then skipped halfway back to the common room. That was when she saw Harry. The odd thing in this was that Harry was talking to _Cedric._ Tina couldn't help but notice him go rather rigid as Cedric went to bid Cho Chang good-night.

"What was that about?" she asked Harry, making him jump as she approached.

"I…what? Oh…Cedric was just helping me out with my egg clue…"

"I thought you were done with the egg?" Tina gave him what was supposed to be a stern, questioning look, but she was still somewhat giddy from Terry's farewell.

"Oh," said Harry. "Er…right. Well, Cedric didn't know that, so he's come and given me some stupid advice that makes no sense…"

"Right," said Tina looking plainly unconvinced. "Whatever. You're lucky I'm not asking and further questions; I'd've weaseled it out of you eventually."

Harry smiled weakly in thanks and the two of them walked back to the Fat Lady in silence. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, but appeared frustrated (which made Tina think he wasn't getting anywhere with his thoughts).

When they finally reached the portrait hole, Harry yelled "Fairy lights!" several times before the Fat Lady and her friend Vi awoke. They seemed rather irritated at being woken up and Vi glared at Tina as the climbed through.

The scene in the common room came as something as a shock to Tina, though looking back on it she felt she should've known. Hermione and Ron were yelling at each other from across the room, and both were positively shaking with fury.

"Well, if you don't like it," Hermione was shouting. "You know what the solution is, don't you?" The bun that the girls had so carefully prepared was coming undone atop her head, and Tina found it rather hard to believe that Hermione had been laughing and chatting along with the rest several hours ago.

"Oh yeah?" Ron bellowed back at her. "What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Ron mouthed at Hermione, clearly at a loss for words. Meanwhile, she had turned on her heel and gone up the girls' staircase at a speed Harry's Firebolt would've envied. Tina quickly followed, giving Ron a look of triumph on the way. She could hear him speaking to Harry on her way up.

Tina was relieved to see that Parvati and Lavender had already gone to sleep, and cautiously listened to see if Hermione was sobbing yet again. However, Hermione wasn't crying this time; she had gone into the bathroom and was washing her face with a sort of mad vigor, scrubbing it so hard that the towel she had been using turned pink from makeup. She was muttering throughout all this.

"_How_ he can say…_never_…_fraternizing with the enemy_…'I don't like that Krum bloke, he's a grouchy git'…wonder if you felt that way a week ago, _Ronald_…"

After several minutes of this in which Tina too had washed her face and Hermione had changed into her night clothes, Tina finally spoke.

"Let it go, man," she said dully while putting on her own. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron doesn't know any better, okay? Come on, you know he's jealous. At least delight in that part."

"Tina!" cried Hermione, but she was rather pink. "He _can't _be jealous!"

Now it was Tina's turn to roll her eyes. "Yes he _is_," she said in an obvious voice. "Just admit it, why don't you?"

"Well, _supposing_ he is…_why_?"

"We may never know," said Tina, shaking her head as she climbed into bed. "Anyway, bottom line, you know he's being stupid, and you're right. Maybe he'll come around…someday."

"Wish I knew when," Hermione muttered glumly, pulling the curtains around her bed.

"Ask Parvati," said Tina with a yawn. "She'd be happy to crystal-gaze for you."

She could almost see Hermione rolling her eyes behind the curtains.

**Tada! I'm actually rather impressed with this. And now I'm moving on to more! Girliness will cease now, if it's ever too girly let me know and I will personally apologize and make Tina roll in mud in the next chapter. **

**Well…maybe not. **

**Now, this fic may have several small details here and there that don't necessarily apply to me, but under the circumstances of the books, they would. Let me give an example: once a girl dumped Pineapple Orange Faygo on my head when we were arguing. I wanted pretty badly to do the same to her, but I wasn't mad enough. Now, if Malfoy made some wisecrack about my family or something, he'd be covered in Faygo so fast it'd make his head spin. Why? Because he pushed me to that point, because he got me mad enough. That's what this fic may have in future chapters: Things I've never done because I wasn't pushed far enough, or because I wasn't angry or happy enough. **

**If you haven't told me a request from OotP now's the time to do so! Also, even if you already have, I'd appreciate it if you told me once again, just to refresh my memory. It's dismal sometimes. **

**Tekvah**** Ariel- **Glad you liked my description in the 'getting ready' part. It was a lot easier to imagine than to write. The comparison to war was the only way I could describe Parvati's voice in my head. Hope it wasn't too extreme.

**Venus725- **Whew, it's good to have someone go along with the girly stuff. But I have to admit, it got pretty hard so I'm glad I don't have to stick with it for life or anything. Well, there you have it. Tina stood by Ron and Harry, as promised, and I hope the reactions were worth your while!

**Anandini77- **I'm absolutely thrilled with your reactions to all three of the previous chapters. I had my doubts about them. Well, I used your idea about Michael, but I wanted Ginny to spot him for herself. That makes her transformation more real; she wasn't pushed into it, she chose to do it. Good luck with work, but at least you don't have to clip articles about the election for school!

**SmileGirlVMV****- **The HP teapot!

**Padfoot**** Prongs and Moony- **Ugh, computers can be like that. Poo. If you thought the last chapter was long you must be reeling from this one! No, Parvati could never even hope to come close to Hermione's intelligence, though I did want to show that she's more creative, and that she doesn't use that in the best ways, though. I agree, it was girly, but I couldn't help but have some fun with that. Blame Parvati and Lavender though! You got a limo for your prom? Sweet. You're explanation of how to add in chapters makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure I can do it yet as I have zero time. However, it looks like there'll be a long wait for book six and not much for me to do while waiting, so…we'll see. I don't know about Tina going with Harry and Hermione for the Tmie-Turner, I kind of felt like if I wrote that I'd be invading something. The Firebolt being sent by Sirius I agreed with when I read it, but I never believed it was jinxed. The Shrieking Shack scene is awesome, most definitely, and I'm still awestruck by the brilliance of it when I read it.

**Dancer34- **Cute. Interesting assessment. Thanks!

**Flagstonejester****- **A new reviewree! And an old one in a way, as you've reviewed Braids and Boils. Yeah, I'm ashamed of the first chapter, as can be seen in the summary. But I wanted to introduce Tina in a more subtle way. Still, I have to admit I sort of grew as a writer between then and now, quite a bit actually. Yes, of course you have to keep reading, I'm so grateful to those who do!

**Psycho-penguin243- **Haha, I know what you mean. Keep reviewing!

**REVIEW! And may the review be proportionate to the chapter it's for… (hem, hem)**


	13. The Git and the Giant

**Hello! I'm back! And, I'm overly excited to be writing something new! Yaaay! **

**Everyone read Braids and Boils; it's coming along really well!**

**This chapter is somewhat short, but it's purely for humor/Malfoy content (all for you, Lindsey) and I'm trying to start showing our little group in classes. **

**This chapter is dedicated to emlythekool, the first person ever to have read and reviewed both my stories! **

**Okay, now just so that I didn't have to completely retype Rita Skeeter's Scoop, this scene begins right after the trio (excuse me…quartet) read the article about Hagrid that the Skeeter cow published. **

Harry finished reading and looked up at Ron, whose mouth was hanging open.

"How did she find out?" he whispered.

But that wasn't what was bothering Harry.

"What do you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "What's this rubbish about _him_" — he pointed at Crabbe —"getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Malfoy, his eyes glinting. "Half-giant…and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young…None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all…They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha…"

"You —"

"Are you paying attention over there?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over to the boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn now, stroking it. Tina shot Harry and Ron a questioning glance, but Ron shook his head. Harry was so angry that the _Daily Prophet_ article shook in his hands as he turned to stare unseeingly at the unicorn, whose many magical properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that the boys could hear too. Tina broke away from the group of girls surrounding Professor Grubbly-Plank and the unicorn to interrogate the boys.

"What did Malfoy show you?" she asked in a whisper, pretending to point and "ooh" at the unicorn like everyone else was.

Harry thrust the newspaper into her hands (she caught it clumsily between two fingers), still shaking too much to speak. Tina's expression became angrier and more disbelieving as she read each line.

"I…she…Malfoy!" she cried, stomping over to him. Professor Grubbly-Plank was now surrounded by the group of girls completely and could neither see nor stop what was happening. Tina seized Malfoy by the shoulder and whirled him around so fast that Goyle had to catch him.

"You…" she snarled. "You…you little…"

Malfoy only grinned maliciously in her face. "What's the matter?" he asked in mock innocence. "Oh, mad about your little friend? Or should I say big?" His two cronies laughed stupidly at his sides.

"How…" sputtered Tina. "How could you possibly twist reality so much?"

"It's not twisted," said Malfoy, sneering. "It's completely true but…I made it more exciting."

Tina's loathing expression deepened and her hand twitched at her side. "That doesn't change the fact that flobberworms can't bite." She snapped. "And the only reason you got attacked was because you're a stupid, condescending little jerk."

The smirk vanished from Malfoy's face.

"You watch your mouth, Paki," he breathed.

_WHAM!_

It happened so fast that at first Harry thought he'd imagined it. But moments later, his suspicions were confirmed: Tina had kicked Malfoy—hard. He was bent double on the ground, gasping, his hands just beneath his stomach. Tina looked slightly out of breath as well, but the dirty look on her face had mixed with one of triumph as she watched him lying in the grass.

"Never," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Never go near Hagrid or any of my friends again!"

And she turned on her heel and stormed back towards the unicorn. But halfway there, Tina turned around as though she had suddenly remembered something else.

"Oh yeah," she said, lifting Malfoy's face so it was level with her own. "Don't call me that. _Ever._"

Harry and Ron jogged after her. "Wow," said Ron. "Who knew?"

"That was good," Harry agreed, his anger briefly smothered by shock. "But it won't help; you know he's going to keep being awful to all of us."

"I know," replied Tina. "But that should hold him for a little while, anyway."

She chuckled through her rage then went back to the unicorn.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like…proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…"

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Tina mouthed silently at the back of Parvati's head as she walked away. Parvati had been very cool toward Harry since the ball. He supposed that he ought to have paid her a bit more attention (Tina had said that Parvati herself mentioned this), but she seemed to have had a good time all the same. She was certainly telling anyone who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni —"

"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the _Daily Prophet_ article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's.

"How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid _told _her?"

"No," said Harry, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."

"Note the word 'ferreting'," said Tina. Ron snorted but put on a straight face immediately.

"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.

"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Ron. "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into the school grounds anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…"

"Well what if she had someone listen _for_ her?" suggested Tina, unaware of the fact that she was spreading butter over her plate. "Nah, she wouldn't be that accurate with her facts then, would she…"

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto is plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes and listen to people."

"Like you and Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.

"We weren't trying to hear him!" said Ron indignantly. "We didn't have any choice. The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could've heard him!"

"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back…you _do_ want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

"I — well, I'm not going o pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once — but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.

"Besides," Tina put in quickly. "That's not what's important. We've got to make Hagrid remember that he's our friend, no matter what that pathetic excuse for a human being writes."

**Short, I know. But it was pretty cool. Not a huge thing, which is great as I've just posted a HUGE chapter anyway, and my brain's worn out from Geometry. **

**You will never use proofs in real life. **

**Can't think of much to say now…REVIEW!**

**Tekvah Ariel- **So glad you liked the Cedric bit! I had to put it in once the idea hit me, because it was such an insignificant little speck of dust that it seemed crucial. Does that make sense? Yeah, the arguments are a little annoying, because you can't smack Ron upside the head for being a git. Nope, Dolores ain't coming yet, but she'll be here soon enough…

**Venus725- **Oh my gosh! I'm practically crying, your review was so nice. If anything could have made the hours I slaved (dramatization) on this chapter worth the struggle, that was it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Well, I didn't hex the dragon as you can see, but he does seem a bit worse for the wear. Getting kicked in 'sensitive areas' can do that to people. At least for a minute or so. Looking forward to the next chapter of the Dragon's Truths…but only if Hermione hurts said dragon…

**Padfoot, Prongs and Moony- **Long review mode or not, I'm glad you reviewed. Yep, the Michael Corner thing was cool, but it wasn't my idea, it was **Anandini77**. Again. ****

**Funness- **Yay! That's an unbelievably huge comment for me. Thanks!

**Mia Diablo**- Love your name. Very cool. Yes, I'm into the Indian pop music scene, the movies just suck you in with those tunes. Nope, I'm North Indian, half Punjabi and half Bengali to be exact. I guess you could say I'm the Half-Blood Princess…haha.

**Padfootprongz- **I think this chapter granted several of your wishes. Sirius is coming, and as for Harry and Hermione…I'm afraid I can't agree…**Tekvah Ariel** might, though. Read her fic!

**Emlythekool- **Hey! Congrats on being the first person ever to have read and reviewed both my stories. It's a rare feat, considering that so few people know the Mediator. ::sigh:: But anyway, thanks for all the reviews, they're super nice! Desi pop is Indian pop music, actually. But I do have a heck of a sweet tooth…


	14. Revenge on Rita

**Hiya****! I'm back! And this chapter will start another short saga in itself, too. But this saga'll only go for three chapters, and it's super subtle in one of them. Or, I hope it will be; that's what I'm aiming for…**

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tina left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.

"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"

"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

"Yeah, but it's loads warmer where I come from," said Tina, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself. "And I don't mean Massachusetts."

"And there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious — if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.

"He's really nice, you know," she said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."

Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Harry had found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it t had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes. According to Tina, she and Hermione had talked about the argument at the ball a little, and Hermione was in no way damaged by what Ron had said. She had, however, asked that Tina and Harry serve as liaisons between her and Ron to find out why he had acted the way he had, but as Ron refused to bring up the subject, this had proved impossible.

Harry kept his eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a visit to the Three Broomsticks once he had ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops.

The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told Harry that Hagrid wasn't there. Heart sinking, he went up to the bar with Ron, Hermione and Tina, ordered four butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that he might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the egg wailing after all. Tina gave her butterbeer to Hermione and broke off from the group temporarily to visit with Terry Boot and his friends.

**Switching POVs here.**** Sorry, guys! I had hoped I'd never do this in a story because it'd get confusing, but there's like, a four page conversation between Harry and Ludo Bagman here, so I didn't want to put that in for no reason; there's absolutely no place for Tina in there, not even for Ron or Hermione for that matter. So, you can see this little visit with Terry through Tina, then I'll be switching back to canon. **

"One sec" Tina mouthed, handing Hermione her butterbeer. She pushed her way through the crowd (in an overly aggressive manner, which she had learned parted crowds easily) to where Terry and many of his friends from the ball were seated.

"Hey," she said brightly. They greeted her in turn. Tina noticed that Ginny also seated amongst the group, next to Michael Corner no less. What's more, his partner from the ball, Mandy Brocklehurst, looked rather sour and kept glaring at Ginny out of the corner of her eye.

"Hi Tina," said Terry, looking mildly surprised. "I thought you couldn't come. Didn't you have homework?"

"Well, I did," said Tina truthfully. "But, I decided I'm much better off getting fuel to help me through the nightly workload than I am sitting alone in the common room waiting for my books to mean something."

Everyone chuckled, and Mandy Brocklehurst gave a particularly loud snort.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," said Terry, smiling guiltily. "If I had I wouldn't've made plans."

"Oh, no that's fine!" said Tina, shaking her head profusely. "I knew you would. I just decided I'd drop by to say hi before I go sit with my friends."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she looked back at Hermione and Ron, the latter of whom was trying in vain to wipe a large amount of butterbeer off the front of his robes.

"Interesting friends you've got," said Lisa Turpin, her eyes narrowed in the direction of Ron's spill. Tina raised her eyebrows and saw Ginny do the same. Before she could utter a word, Ginny had stood up.

"That 'interesting' friend of hers happens to be my brother," she said coolly, causing Lisa to turn a magnificent shade of crimson. Lisa didn't speak again.

"Um…right," said Tina, hoping to change the subject. "So, I see you guys went to Zonko's, eh?"

Anthony Goldstein nodded and grinned, opening the bag to reveal a large number of stink pellets and several of the brand-new Snapping Socks that the store had introduced, which began to bite their owners if their feet smelled too bad. Terry himself had a pack of these which he proudly unsheathed from the bag, and series of Filibuster Fireworks as well.

"For my brother," he said innocently, but no one at the table seemed to believe him as his brother was two.

"All right," said Tina as Mandy returned to glaring at Michael and Ginny. "I better go, my friends'll be wondering where I am. Bye Terry, bye Gin, see you guys later!"

With that, she jostled her way back through the crowd and to the table where Ron and Hermione sat waiting.

"Where's Harry?" Tina asked.

"Bagman wanted a word with him," said Hermione, looking disapproving. "I'll bet he's offering to help Harry again or something like that…and in any case he really shouldn't spend so much time away from work to be sitting with goblins and schoolboys in pubs…"

Ron rolled his eyes and Tina stifled a giggle. She didn't know who to agree with; she liked Bagman, but like Hermione felt that he paid little attention to his work.

"Ah, well, he's leaving now," she said, peering over the many heads in the pub. "And there's Harry!"

**Right.**** Back to Harry, then. **

"What did he want?" Ron said, the moment Harry had sat down.

"He offered me help with the golden egg," said Harry. Tina gave him a dismal look then, threw her head onto the table. Harry found out why in a moment.

""He shouldn't be doing that!" said Hermione, looking very shocked. (Tina began banging her head on the table) "He's one of the judges! And anyway, you've already worked it out — haven't you?"

"Er..nearly," said Harry. Tina lifted her head to raise her eyebrows at him.

"Well, I don't think Dumbledore would like it if he knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!" said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. "I hope he's trying to help Cedric as much!"

"He's not, I asked," said Harry. Tina resumed her banging, though it wasn't hard enough to be worthy of that name.

"Who cares if Diggory's getting help?" said Ron. Harry privately agreed.

"Does it really matter?" said Tina, sounding annoyed as she lifted her head. Her hair was rather ruffled, but the region above her eyebrows wasn't damaged in the least bit. "Even if Bagman didn't offer him help, Harry's not the kind of person who'll accept the offer to cheat."

Ron looked slightly put out that Harry hadn't taken advantage of Cedric's ignorance and Hermione nodded pointedly.

"Those goblins didn't look very friendly," she said, sipping her butterbeer. "What were they doing here?"

"Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman," said Harry. "He's stilli ill. Hasn't been into work."

"Maybe Percy's poisoning him," said Ron. Tina rolled her eyes. "Probably thinks if Crouch snuffs it he'll be made head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

Hermione gave Rona don't-joke-about-things-like-that look, and said, "Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch….They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Not necessarily," said Tina. "They run Gringotts, so they could deal with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement if someone broke in or something."

"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Harry. "Maybe they need an interpreter"

"Worrying bout poor 'ickle goblins, now, are you?" Ron asked Hermione. "Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"

Tina snorted. "Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically, casting her friend a disapproving glance. "Goblins don't need protection. Haven't you been listening to what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin rebellions?"

"No," said the other three together.

"I can't retain History," said Tina. "Potions, sure. Charms, fine. History? No. Anyway, what about the goblins?"

"Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards," said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. "They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves."

"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door.

Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today (Tina snorted yet again); her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tina glaring at her as she approached. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something.

"…didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights…what nonsense…he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman…' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo — we just need to find a story to fit it in —"

"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Harry loudly.

"A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.

"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join — ?"

"I wouldn't come near you with aten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"

Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.

"Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my —"

"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.

Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid _you_ know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"

Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.

"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman —"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't' understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl..not that it needs it —" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.

"Stop right there," said Tina, standing up just as suddenly as Hermione had. "You know what? I've had enough of you. You and your…your twisted little stories…your hideous clothes…your quill…and your complete and total disregard for other people. Now I only want to have to say this once: _Stay away from my friends_."

Tina said this all very calmly, though she was shaking slightly. Then, smiling innocently, she lifted her flagon of butterbeer above Rita Skeeter's head and tipped it over.

Several people gasped, while others laughed and clapped; Rita was dripping in the liquid that matched her robes and everything from her hair to her quill was soaked. (Tina hadn't drunk any of her butterbeer) She looked utterly shocked as she examined herself then looked back at Tina. Tina merely smiled wickedly and handed her empty flagon to the photographer, Bozo.

"Enjoy," she said.

"How dare you…" began Rita, her false cheeriness lost. "You cheeky little brat! You mark my words, I'll get you…both of you," she jerked her head at Hermione. "You're meddlesome miscreants, you two girls, and you're going to pay for it."

"Let's go," said Hermione, who was still fuming, "c'mon, Harry — Ron…"

She grabbed Harry by the arm and Tina seized Ron and they left; many people were staring at them as they went. Harry glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out and it was dry; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.

Tina looked somewhat calmer and rather pleased with herself, though was still slightly pink from her brief spell of anger. Hermione, while looking triumphant nonetheless at Tina's revenge, still looked furious.

"She'll be after you two next," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street.

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Meddlesome miscreants, are we? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid…"

"I swear," muttered Tina. "If she tries anything else...I'll dump more than butterbeer on her, that's for sure."

"You don't' want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, she'll dig up something on you —"

"Make up, more like," said Tina scornfully.

"My parents don't read the _Daily Prophet_. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast with Tina that it was all Harry and Ron could do to keep up with her. The last time Harry had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face. So had Tina, come to think of it. The girls were more alike than they thought. "And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore!" continued Hermione. "He should _never_ have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come _on_!"

Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin.

**Well, there's another chapter. I hope in these past two it doesn't seem like Tina just does whatever Hermione does, because that's just not true. They're best friends; they're a team, and they react similarly to certain situations. Well, they do in cases of people like Draco and Rita, for example, because those two are the same type of evil human beings. But in other cases, like when Harry and Ron were arguing, they choose different approaches. **

**Tekvah**** Ariel- **Haha, that's interesting. I don't really hurt people in real life, but I've come pretty close. That's why I figured that people like Draco and Rita would piss me off so bad that I'd have to take action. 'Paki' is actually a really derogatory term for people from India or Pakistan. You probably haven't heard of it because it was used in the U.K. a long time ago and never came to America. Yeah, I know, I have trouble ending chapters sometimes. I just…don't know where to stop the story!

**Venus725- **Hehe! So glad I made your day! Are you kidding? How could you possibly NOT review well? All of your reviews to me have been nothing except for simply _dripping_ with compliments! I can't thank you enough for that, believe me. Sirius and Umbridge are coming, don't worry. Oooh, the maze, that's a new idea. I like it. I don't know if I'll use it, but I don't think I've turned down a request to this day, so I'll have to give it a shot! It'll be really hard to capture the emotions, the panic, the mood…okay, that's it, I'll have to do it. Looking forward to the next chapter of your fic! I've gotten two of my friends into fanfiction since I started reading it in June, and one of them really likes stories about Draco and she's been following yours. Of course, she doesn't review anything, but I'm working on that…

**Padfoot****, Prongs and Moony- **Thanks! I feel so special how in every review of yours to my other fic you requested that I update this one. No, I'm serious! It meant a lot, and here, I dedicate this chapter to you for your patience and eagerness to read my fic!

**SmileGirlVMV****- **Hiya! Shh…I got the idea from Hermione's punch, but as you can see from my author notes, it was my own rendition very much so as well. I'm going to try to bring stuff for our project (J-Snizzle sent me a threatening E-mail) tomorrow, but don't' hurt me if I don't! By the way, are you going on the trip to Virginia? I can't wait till next Wednesday!

**Flagstonejester**- Haha, thanks for the compliment about my weird sense of humor. It is quite strange, but I love it!

**Anandini77- **You just love comparing me to Hermione, don't you? Not that I mind, but I never noticed the comparisons that you point out before you point them out to me. When are you going to post your fic???? I'll give you free advertising, and I'm going to have to read all the fics on your favorites lists and whatnot when you get to them!


	15. The Second Task

**I'm soooooo sorry I took so long to post, guys, I really had no idea it had been a month!**

**I can explain myself…please…don't hurt me…that's right put it down…see, I had homework, loads of homework. Colonial houses, election journals, and we began these insane term papers and there was everyday homework, too. **

**Like those effing proofs. **

**Hey, did anyone recognize the word effing from the second chapter of OotP? **

**Okay I'm stalling again, aren't I? **

**Well, anyway…um…this is my new chapter. 'Nuff said. **

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

The morning of the second Triwizard task dawned clear and bright. Tina set her alarm clock for eight thirty, hoping she'd be able to eat and dress without rush, and that Hermione would wait for her.

She was right on one account; she dressed lazily for over fifteen minutes, making somnolent faces at herself in the mirror to enhance her bedraggled appearance. Hermione, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"She probably left early," said Parvati as she sprayed her hair with a potion from Hogsmeade. (Tina covered her nose and shook her head) "Or she might've gone to the library to meet with _Viktor._" Lavender laughed and took the spray in turn; ignoring Tina's gagging motions just as Parvati had on the first day she showed the potion to everyone.

"Morning, Tina!" Tina whirled around in the process of brushing her own hair and smacked herself in the face with it.

"Oh, hey Ginny," she said brightly. On some weekends Ginny came up to their dormitory in the mornings and luckily, this was one of them. "Hey, did you see Hermione anywhere?"

"Er…no, actually," said Ginny thoughtfully. "Oh, well, I suppose she's gotten an early start again. No use trying to find her now, though; we'll just nip down to breakfast and save her a seat in the stands."

"Sounds good," replied Tina, grinning.

The students in the Great Hall were buzzing excitedly at breakfast. Fred, George, and Lee could be seen making more bets and even the teachers seemed rather preoccupied; Hagrid put his elbow in his pumpkin juice in an attempt to look relaxed and Professor McGonagall seemed oblivious of the fact that her wand was on her plate and it was trying to walk away from the table. Professor Flitwick was talking to Professor Sprout and then gave and excited squeak and toppled into her hands; Professor Sinistra and Professor Vector were surreptitiously jinxing each other so their heads changed color.

"Wow," said Tina, watching Professor Vector's face turn a magnificent shade of orange. "Never thought I'd see this. It's worse than the day of the First Task…can't wait till the third."

Ginny laughed as they took seats opposite Parvati and Lavender at the Gryffindor table. "Hey, Hermione's not here either. And come to think of it —" she leaned back and looked up and down the table, "— neither is Ron or Harry. Where could they be?"

"I have no idea," Tina muttered through her pancakes. "Maybe they all left early in an evil attempt to ditch me when I'm asleep and completely zoned out."

"I doubt that," said Parvati airily, startling the two of them.

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" asked Ginny, raising her eyebrows.  
"It's hard not to, you're right in front of us," Lavender pointed out. Tina rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, Harry's probably at the first task," said Parvati. "And Hermione could be wishing…_Viktor_ good luck." She winced.

"Gosh, Parvati, get over yourself," said Tina in a withering tone. "You have your own little boyfriend…Jack or whatever his name is from Beauxbatons. Leave Vik and Hermione alone, okay?"

Parvati pursed her lips and went back to gossiping with Lavender. This time Ginny joined Tina in rolling her eyes.

"That could be true, though," said Ginny. "Hermione might've gone to wish him luck."

"Yeah, but that still leaves Ron unaccounted for," said Tina. "He probably didn't go to wish Harry good luck, he could've done that last night or this morning when he left."

"True," said Ginny, nodding. "All right, well, it's all we can do to go and save them both seats…I've got my omnioculars from the World Cup so we can scan the crowds for them as well. Shall we go, then?"

"Yeah, why not," Tina swallowed the last of her breakfast and followed Ginny out the doors.

The enclosure where the dragons were had long since disappeared; it had been replaced by stands rising nearly half as high as the castle itself…and they were around the lake.

"Let's go to the top," said Ginny eagerly.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" They raced up the stands to the top as quickly as they could without falling back into the lake. Conveniently enough, the seats they chose near the top were right next to where Michael, Terry, and all their friends were sitting.

"You evil genius," said Tina. Ginny grinned wickedly. "Hi, Terry!"

Terry had been talking to Anthony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin but he turned around. "Tina!" he cried, sounding surprised to see her there. "Ginny! Come sit over here, you two!"

The evil geniuses grinned at each other once more and headed over to the Ravenclaw cluster. Ginny smoothed her robes out and sat next to Michael, while Tina grimaced and brushed a bug off the stands before sitting down next to Terry.

"Where's Harry?" he asked her.

Tina's eye grew wide. "You mean he's not —"

She looked down at the golden judges' table. Viktor Krum (wearing swimming trunks), Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were standing next to it, but Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"Gin!" called Tina, for Ginny was chatting animatedly with Michael. "Gin! Harry's not down there!"

"What?" cried Ginny, breaking off in mid-sentence. "You're joking!" But there was no two ways about it, Harry wasn't anywhere near the lake.

"And still no sign of Hermione," said Ginny.

"Or Ron," added Tina. Hermione might've sat a bit lower; though she wasn't afraid of heights, the thought of falling into water from any sort of height didn't please Hermione at all. She had told Tina that she never jumped into pools if she could help it. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't afraid of heights at all. He would've come straight up once he spotted Tina and Ginny through his Omnioculars and not thought twice about it.

"Well, as long as Hermione's not here…" Tina reached inside her robes and pulled out a silvery-green lizard, about five inches in length. Lisa Turpin gave a muffled squeal and moved over several seats.

"What's that?" asked Terry, looking fascinated as opposed to frightened.

"A moke," said Tina proudly. "My moke. Chipki. See, because chipkili means lizard in Hindi, I decided it'd be a cute name. I normally don't take her out much because Hermione isn't too fond of her, but sometimes I do."

"How long have you had her?" asked Terry, petting Chipki's smooth Slytherin-colored back.

"Got her this summer, actually," replied Tina. "I had her out a lot then, but it's been harder lately because of the cold. But last night she looked a little blue-ish, which means she might be getting warm, so I brought her here today. I thought she'd have to stay in my robes the whole time, though."

"Can I hold her?"

"Sure!"

Terry carefully picked the lizard up by placing his thumb and index finger on either side of her neck. Tina was impressed; Harry and Ron had both attempted to pick Chipki up by her tail, which resulted in Chipki shrinking out of fear whenever they came near for the next month. Terry's hand lightly brushed Tina's as he lifted the moke out of her hand. They both acted as if this was nothing, though a smile fought to break through each of their faces.

"Welcome to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament," said Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice, making them all jump. Chipki ran up Terry's arm and hid somewhere in the region of his shoulder. "In this task, each of the champions must swim to the bottom of the lake and recover a precious possession of theirs that the merpeople have. Or rather, a precious _person_ of theirs. Now, since Mr. Potter —"

"Look, there!" shrieked Ginny, so loudly that even the judges below jumped. Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing, though they were by no means silent. Harry was bolting out of the castle doors towards the lake, his robes and his hair flying wildly as he did so. He finally skidded to a halt next to the judges' table, splashing Fleur Delacour with mud as he did so. Ludo Bagman, who had quieted his voice upon seeing Harry, whispered a few words to him then magnified it again.

"Well," he said cheerfully. "All our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One…two…_three_!"

Tina clapped and cheered with the rest as the champions got ready. Cedric quickly performed a bubble-head charm on himself then dove into the lake. Krum pointed his wand at himself and jumped in with the head of a shark that looked quite confused. At first they weren't sure what Fleur was doing—she appeared to be medidating on the shore—but then she too pointed her wand at her face and performed a Bubble-Head Charm before gliding into the water.

Harry, looking nervous, pulled off his shoes and socks, then took something out of his pocket. It looked like a large ball of live worms; Tina shook her Omnioculars to see if there was something wrong with them. When she put them back to her eyes the ball had vanished and Harry was chewing furiously, one of the worms dangling from his mouth.

"Eurgh," muttered Ginny. Terry looked somewhat ruffled as well. Harry stopped, waist-deep in the water, as though waiting for something to happen. The Slytherins were laughing, as were some people of other houses and possibly schools. Tina heard Lisa Turpin giggle from her left, but before she could walk over and smack her, Harry threw himself into the lake.

"What happened?" asked Tina disbelievingly.

"He grabbed his neck, didn't you see?" asked Terry. "Like he could breath or something. Next thing we know, he flings himself into the water."

"Gills," murmured Ginny.

"What?"

"Don't you see, it's brilliant! Whatever Harry ate gave him _gills_!"

Both Tina's and Terry's jaws dropped at the same time. "Wow," said Tina. "And yesterday he had nothing."

"Really?" inquired Terry. "He doesn't seem like the procrastinating type."

"Oh, he is," said Tina, laughing. "He didn't for this though; he just couldn't find anything. But he definitely procrastinates for other things, like homework. So does Ron! It's almost funny to watch when they both make up stuff to put on their Divination homework or have to copy off of me and Hermione for notes and things."

"Hey, I do that too!" said Terry indignantly, but he was grinning.

"Nothing to be ashamed of, I've had my fare share of last minute work as well. And Harry has Quidditch, too, even though that doesn't apply this year. But Ron just does this by himself. He doesn't do any other activities or anything, yet manages to have loads of work. Still, I can't help but feel bad for him when he does."

"Yeah," said Terry. "But my parents start nagging about this sort of thing, how is it Ron's don't?"

"Well his dad's pretty busy," Tina said. "You know, working for the Ministry. Even if it is for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, they had all those raids a couple years back, and now there're jinxed objects everywhere just screaming at Muggles to be found. And his mom doesn't have a whole lot of time either, what with six other kids, especially Fred and George. Sometimes I wonder how Ron deals with it all. I mean, not only does he have loads of siblings, but he has three best friends who have either no siblings or two. We can't relate that well, can we?"

"True," said Terry. "I've only got one brother, so I can relate to you quite well as you've got one. But it's a lot harder for me to relate to someone with no siblings at all. Also, you've got a sister which must be fun."

"Oh, it is! She's five years younger than me; not too much, not too little. Actually when I first met Ron and listened to him talk about his sister, he made it sound like she was Ria's age! Of course, she still acts like it sometimes…"

"Hey!" cried Ginny, looking away from Michael. "I heard that! Don't think I've been sitting here with my ears closed up or anything!"

Tina made a face. "Oops," she muttered. Terry laughed. "Seems like you all are really good friends," he said sounding pleased.

"Yeah," said Tina. "I don't know why, but I've never had problems being friends with guys at all. I mean, there was Rahul back in Boston, and there's Sean, Dave, and Tad in America now as well. You started out as my friend, too, but instead of becoming one of my best friends like they did you tried a different route."

Tina raised her eyebrows and Terry flushed. "It's their loss," he said with a shrug and they laughed without any sort of awkwardness.

Time continued to pass as they talked with one another and with Ginny and Terry's friends. Soon enough, Ginny consulted her watch to say that one hour had passed, and the stands fell silent as the students watched and waited.

After about a minute, ripples appeared on the surface of the water, and a bubble started to rise. Seconds later, the large bubble revealed Cedric Diggory's head beneath it; he emerged from the water carrying Cho Chang.

"Oh, no!" said Ginny in a childish whine. "Why did he have to get here first?"

Cedric swan to shore clumsily and plopped Cho onto the grass. She looked rather dazed but was barely able to register her surroundings when Madam Pomfrey pounced on her with a towel and a tub of potion. As soon as Cedric was out of the water and free of his transparent helmet, he too was bundled up and force-fed the liquid that made steam come out of his ears.

Several minutes later, after the excitement of Cedric's return had died down (the Hufflepuffs had broken into a chorus of cheers for Cedric), the water's surface was disturbed once again. Something gray became visible…the head of a shark.

"Krum!" cried Terry excitedly. And as the half-man, half-shark rose out of the water, his shark's head shrinking as he did, Ginny gasped and Tina's mouth fell open. For in his arms was none other than…

"Hermione!" the girls cried in unison.

"She was the Bulgarian shark-boy's most precious possession?" said Michael Corner incredulously. Ginny lightly smacked him upside the head.

"Does that surprise you?" she asked in a menacing tone. Michael shook his head fervently before the two of them chuckled.

Krum and Hermione were soon covered in blankets, and had taken the potion Madam Pomfrey gave Cedric and Cho. Ginny and Tina seized this opportunity to jump up and down madly while screaming Hermione's name. She finally noticed and waved brightly.

"We should go down there," said Ginny thoughtfully.

"Not just yet," said Tina. "We can wait for Harry and…oh my gosh."

"What?"

"Ron!"

"What about him?"

"He's — why didn't' we see it before — he's the person most precious to Harry!"

Ginny's eyes grew to the size of snitches. "He…but…of _course_! Harry doesn't have a girlfriend or anything, and Ron's his best friend!"

"Someone should've told us," said Tina, shaking her head. "All that worrying for nothing."

A few minutes after that Fleur came out of the lake, and though she still had a bubble over her head, it wasn't difficult to see that she was sobbing hysterically.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Michael.

"Well, it's not that hard to see, is it?" said Terry. "She's got two grindylows on her feet and four more behind her. Not to mention the fact that, oh, I don't know, she's alone? Where's the person she cares for the most, eh?"

The crowd seemed quite stirred by Fleur's empty-handed return. Indeed, Madame Maxime also looked enraged at the grindylows for stopping her champion and demanded that Dumbledore have the Second Task redone. It didn't work.

"All right, that's it," Tina announced as she stood up. "I'm going down. Coming, Gin?"

"Say no more," replied the redhead as she jumped to her feet. They ran down the stands as fast as they could down to where the champions and their hostages were.

"Hermione!" said Ginny in mock concern. "You had us worried sick!"

"Don't you ever do that again!" said Tina in the same voice, slapping Hermione's arm gently. The three of them laughed.

"So…is Ron Harry's…person?" asked Tina.

"Yes," said Hermione. "McGonagall called us down to her office yesterday and told us, then put us under this spell to keep us asleep until we left the lake. Did Viktor take long in bringing me up?"

"Not as long as Harry's taking with Ron," muttered Ginny, consulting her watch once again. "Where _is_ he?"

As though in answer to her question, the water of the lake rippled again, though this time it did so in many places. Tina saw one of the most strange sights she had ever seen before in her life: Harry, Ron, and a little blond girl surfaced from the lake, and then nearly a dozen merpeople bobbed up beside them. Ron looked around stupidly and the girl seemed frightened. The merpeople, who looked quite intimidating, were smiling at Harry and all the students. Fleur, who had been fighting with Madame Maxime to go back into the lake, finally broke free and hugged the little girl as they walked onto the grass. Madam Pomfrey grabbed Harry and brought him over to the others, wrapped tightly in a blanket. She forced him to drink the potion as well, and steamed came out of his ears, too, giving the impression that his head was a giant kettle.

"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did ti, you found out how all by yourself!"

"Well – yeah, that's right," said Harry.

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor Krum, oblivious to Tina and Ginny's muffled giggles. Hermione brushed it away.

"You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry…did it take you ages to find us?"

"No…I found you okay…"

Dumbledore was talking to the chief mermaid and then had a short conference with the other judges. Harry looked annoyed and nervous at the same time. He did seem slightly more calm after Fleur thanked him for saving her sister with a kiss, though, as did Ron. Hermione looked thoroughly flustered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision." Said Ludo Bagman. "Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…"

Fleur received twenty-five points, though she didn't seem to think she even deserved that. Cedric got forty-seven points, and Krum got forty. Then it was time for Harry's verdict.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect ("That's what those things were!" Tina)…he returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However,t he Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own. Most of the judges —" he glared at Karkaroff, "— feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However…Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

Tina gave a tiny squeak of joy and hugged each of her three friends in turn through their blankets.

"There you go, Harry!" on shouted over the nose. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!"

"Awesome job, Harry," said Tina with a grin as Ludo Bagman announced the date of the next task. "We can all try this out for your next birthday. But…no worms."

The four of them laughed as they walked back to the castle.

**A/N: And so, here I stand for all of you after finishing the fifteenth chapter of my first Harry Potter fanfiction, and I can only say: My hair's a mess, my stomach's grumbling, my mother's calling, and my hands are almost numb from cold. But I don't care, cause it takes a lot more than that to keep Tina Gupta from her fanfiction. (It takes some homework)**

**I don't actually have a sister or brother of any sort, I'm afraid. The siblings Tina refers to in this chapter are depictions of my two closest cousins in real life, who are the same ages as her brother and sister. **

**flagstonejester****-**Yay, thanks! Well, Hermione did look triumphant when Tina soaked Rita, but since they were all pretty ticked off at her they couldn't say much. Ron was too busy warning the girls about the dangers of messing with Rita and Harry was just…stunned and annoyed, I guess. And since they march up to Hagrid's house after that to talk some sense into him, there isn't a whole lot of time for it.

**Venus725- **Really? You seriously laughed that hard??? Wow, I'm stunned. Only almost topped Draco? Darn, better luck next time. I hate to hear that high school sucks…I'll be going there next year. Actually, if I were born just over a month earlier, I'd be there now, but thankfully I'm not. None of the people in the grade above mine are especially nice in any way. ::shudder:: It's your hardest year…shall I take that as a clue as to which year you're in? Oh, well. Actually my friend did review, as I said in my last review to your story (yay for the dance!), Lmcmuffingirl. She's registered now, so she's gotten author alert and favorites lists and things like that and she loves it. We spend all of fourth hour science class using sign language, notes, and secret visits to communicate all this stuff to each other. Hopefully she'll start giving longer reviews in the future, though. Oh, by the way, thanks for reading Ode to the Shippers! It was totally random.

**T**_i_**kvah**** Ariel- **Yes, she's dirty. I don't see many other opportunities I've had to do this, though. Hmmm… Really? You thought this was mediocre? Ah, well, sorry about that. Yes, Tina does have a sort of crush on Terry, but they're going out so it isn't a huge deal. Ron and Ginny notice each other all right, but they're brother and sister so they're not going to spend a whole lot of time together. I'm trying to portray Ginny as the girl we see in OotP, post-liking-Harry. She's changing from the smitten little girl to a spunky young woman and it's such a refreshing change when she comes around in book five!

**SmileGirlVMV****- **You spelled stupendous right. Ack, the Faygo, yes indeed. I never touch the stuff now. Rite? I assume you meant Rita, but yeah I know what she's going to do. It's not…well I'll just tell you at school, shall I? Yeah Virginia will be awesome and Toronto…my god has it been _that long_ since I updated??? Toronto was ages ago!!!! Sidetracking is good in reviews. Oh, I'm rooming with Pierrette and (groan) Rawan…

**xBlackMoon****-****y**- Glad you liked it. Well, I do follow Tina's story, but when I say Point of View I mean the person whose thoughts and feelings are being included. In the things from canon that we've seen in the books, I use Harry's, because they're his thoughts and ideas added to what's happening. When it's Tina's POV, we see her thoughts and comments. Oh, don't worry about accounts and computer problems…I'm just glad to have the review!

**Funness****- **You're back! Welcome. Life keeps me busy too. As for what Rita does to Tina, argh, I don't know if I'll satisfy, but it goes along with what I planned and have written…

**Tata****, my lovely readers! **

**SOOOOO ****SORRY FOR UPDATING LATE!!!!!**


	16. Skeeter and Snape

**Hello, all!!! It's good to be back, which I shouldn't say because it was my own fault that I was on, what, a month-long hiatus?? I'm sorry, and I'm ashamed, but at least I was still writing!! A lot of you are reading Braids and Boils now, which is super cool!! Check it out if you already haven't!!!**

**Is everyone totally psyched for July 16th??????? I am!!!!!!!!! WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FANTASTICNESS, and then when I start to reread HBP I can add myself to that, too, thus making this fic longer still!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!**

**Okay, I'm hyper. **

**Anyway…here's chapter sixteen!! It won't be centered the whole time, I just had to make distinction between…we'll you'll figure it out. **

* * *

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Tina headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingeredients of today's potionon the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifle through the magazine under the desk. At last in the venter pages, Hermione found what they were looking for. Harry, Ron, and Tina leaned in closer. A color photograph of Harry headed a piece entitled:

"Harry Potter's Secret Heartache"

_A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy surrounded by and suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes _Rita Skeeter_. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._

_Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, ahs already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has 'never felt this way about any other girl.'_

_However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._

_'She's really ugly,' says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, 'but she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it.'_

_Love Potions are of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. However, concocting one's own possibly lethal potions is permissible enough, but sharing them with another such cruel mind is a crime in itself. Yes, Hermione Granger is not the only one making Love Potions at Hogwarts, she is joined in it by her best friend Tina Gupta, and it was easy for this reporter to see why they are so close._

_'They do everything together,' offered Miss Parkinson, 'They share nearly everything and I wouldn't be surprised if they're creating all these potions together. I've seen them whispering and pointing in class; they must be planning something.'_

_Miss Gupta, an American born Indian girl with a thirst for attention rivaled only by Miss Granger's, is openly dating Terry Boot, a fourth-year student. But in her off hours when she cannot see him, she satisfies herself by flirting with Ronald Weasley, who is, ironically enough, Harry Potter's best friend. Ronald's father works at the Ministry of Magic, and seems to be unaware that his son's object of affections is somewhat less than reasonable. Miss Gupta seems an expert on Mr. Weasley's family background and have much in common. She even openly discussed all this with her boyfriend Terry Boot, lacking the slightest care of what she was saying. It has been learnt from Miss Gupta herself that she has several other boyfriends in various other countries, all of whom she mentions quite a bit._

_It appears that in addition to the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts this year, there is also great competition for the boys available in the school. These cruel and clever girls continue to scan the halls for prey, leaving only heartbreak in their wake. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his friendship and love upon worthier candidates._

"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione and Tina as they stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet women!"

Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laugher. "Scarlet women?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red."

"Well, she's definitely made us out to be them," said Tina, her eyes back on the article. "I don't believe that stupid cow! And since when is she —" Tina pointed at Pansy, "— pretty and vivacious? How _low_ do you have to be to write something like this? And how _bored_, for that matter? You know, somehow, I don't think Rita had very many friends as a child."

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling at Ron's remark earlier on as she threw _Witch Weekly_ onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."

"We're not that similar that I'm gonna be completely unphased by this," Tina muttered to Hermione. She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching the four of them to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, as did Tina, but she narrowed her eyes. The two of them, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.

"Oh, crap!" hissed Tina, dropping some beetles. "I just realized something…my mom reads _Witch Weekly_…my _parents_ are going to see that article!"

Ron turned white. "Your mum's a Muggle," Harry said in a confused voice.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she can't be hip to what the Magical World mothers are like," said Tina. "I hope they don't believe this." She picked up her supplies and got to work again.

"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"

"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You two _haven't_ been mixing up Love Potions, have you?" Tina slapped his arm.

"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound her beetles again. "No, it's just…how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"

Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes.

"What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to —"

"And what did you say?" said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches away from his bowl, because he was looking at Hermione.

"And he _did_ say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that Harry could almost feel the hear coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there…or was she? Maybe she _has_ got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto he grounds to watch the second task…"

"I missed all this because I was watching and then walking down a flight of stairs," Tina muttered, shaking her head.

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated to Hermione, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk. Tina snatched it from his hand.

"Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to —"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all four of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash _POTTER STINKS_ across the dungeon at Harry.

"Ah…reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the coy of _Witch Weekly_. "A further ten points from Gryffindor…oh but of course..." Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"

The dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's think mouth. To Harry's fury (and to Tina's as well, judging by the way she was glaring at Snape), he began to read the article aloud.

"_'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache'._..dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? _'A boy like no other, perhaps…'_"

Harry could feel his face burning. Snape was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Tina allowed her head to rest in her hand that was sitting on the table, narrowing her eyes at the Slytherins and clenching her teeth. Ron had turned a magnificent shade of magenta; Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.

"'…Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the four of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Miss Gupta, over by Zabini. Potter—that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."

**Tina's POV (this switching thing is actually kind of fun…)**

Tina took the opportunity to let out her rage by throwing everything into her Potions bag so hard that it clunked as it hit the desk. She stomped to the other side of the dungeon next to Blaise Zabini, threw down her bag and sat down. Zabini snickered; Tina seized her wand and put a Silencing Charm on him. He grabbed his throat, trying to make a sound come out, but the Silencing Charm lifted within the five minutes it took Tina to cool down.

"Pssstt!" she hissed. "Pssstt! Hermione!" Hermione looked up. Tina working on her potion again, quietly taking out a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag. She quickly scribbled:

_That foul, low, evil, cruel, sneering, smelly, oily, greasy, loathing, biased, SCUM of a man! I swear, if he wasn't a professor I'd use one of Ron's choice names for him…WHY DOES DUMBLEDORE KEEP A GUY AROUND WHO HAS THE FAIRNESS OF A THREE-YEAR OLD?!?! As if darling Rita's article wasn't enough, he has to go and read it in that mocking voice…just once I'd like to see him dock points from Slytherin, even if it's for his own freaking image! I mean, it wasn't your magazine anyway…it belongs to that pug-faced loser. Just say anything, anything in reply, and stifle the giant ball of flaming verbal abuse that's sitting in my throat, waiting to explode for everyone in this dungeon that isn't wearing red or gold._

She crumpled it up and sealed it with a tap of her wand, then tossed it to Hermione the best that she could. Hermione unfolded it, her eyebrows rising as she did. Pansy Parkinson was trying to peep over her shoulder at it, but Hermione stepped on her foot. Tina chuckled. She finished pounding her scarab beetles and poured them into the cauldron as Hermione wrote her reply. When the parchment was tossed back to Tina, beneath her message it read:

_I know, I know, and I have to agree with you, though perhaps I'm a little less intense about it? And I appear to calmer as well. Anyway, right now the problem isn't Snape…it's Rita Skeeter. We've got to find out how she got in here, and _stop her from doing it again_. Don't pass the note back; we could get in more trouble. Just work on the potion. _

Tina nodded at Hermione's watching face, then folded the parchment up again and fed it into the flames beneath her cauldron. She cut up her ginger roots, concentrating on keeping them congruent and not thinking about anything to do with Rita's article. Blaise Zabini chuckled again, but Tina gave him such a dark look that he recoiled instantly and went back to slicing his own roots. Tina ignored him the rest of the lesson while she poured out armadillo bile and stirred it into the potion, focusing on it even when Karkaroff came bursting through the door. Finally, the bell rang.

"I think I'm almost calm now," Tina said proudly to Ron and Hermione. Ron narrowed his eyes and Snape and the other Slytherins as she put her things back into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"Harry's spilled his armadillo bile," said Hermione. "Let's just get out of here and wait from him outside the door."

The other two nodded fervently, not wanting to spend any more time than necessary in the dungeon with Snape. The three of them followed the herd of the students out the door and waited for Harry to come out.

**

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_Voila!_ Shorter than some recent chapters, I'm sure, but I didn't want to go further because it's just Harry explaining what Karkaroff was saying to Snape. I could've skipped that, but then it goes ahead a day and I didn't want to get confusing. I've procrastinated ridiculously about putting this chapter up, and I'm ever so sorry to all my faithful reviewers.**

**Venus725- **Yeah, the Tina/Terry thing was fun. As you can see, I had to make Tina talk about Ron a little extra, but not so much that it seemed unnatural, After all, she's still having a conversation with her boyfriend! Sirius is too cool. Short reviews are A-Okay, and I'm sure you'll make up for it in the future…hehehe. Thanks for reviewing Braids and Boils; it's was SO AWESOME to get twelve reviews at once!!!

**xBlackMoon****-****y- **If you waited for chapter fifteen, you must've fallen asleep anticipating chapter sixteen! Hmm…I'd have to say I think it's geniuses, and not just because I used that word, but I've heard it used on TV and in movies as well. Genii? Never in my life. It is a word though, so I supposed it works, just like lighted and lit both work. Am I making sense? Anyway, the geni-somethings were Tina and Ginny, sorry if I didn't make that clear. I do have a thing for mokes, they're so cool!! Um…yes, the 'on shouted over the nose' thing was not only unintentional but downright bizarre. It was meant to be 'Ron shouted over the noise'. Whoa, what a difference. You seem to have passed Divination. Goody-o. The task was fun, and I do believe it was your idea!!

**Flagstonejester****- **Glad I made someone laugh. Sorry if it seemed…impersonal, I do know what you mean though. I may add some family in here—the letter from Ria was a good idea—but for the most part I think that'll be in Ocean of Muggles. I'm planning on updating that soon, so hopefully it'll be good. Happy to spark the 'inquisitive-ness' within you. I never thought of a thesaurus being a dinosaur…

**SmileGirlVMV****- **You spelled it right, yet again, and I don't even know what you were referring to. Yeah you meant Rita, and Toronto does seem AGES ago!! Well, the rooming for D.C. came down to me, Pierrette, Carleene, Rawan and Ariel, or me, Pierrette, Rawan and Zarah. Frankly, I prefer the latter…one person I'm not too fond of is enough to have in the room instead of three. Hope you've solved your situation, I've given you ample time since it took me forever to update. Sidetracking ROCKS.

**Tikvah**** Ariel- **Ginny post-liking Harry was a much more likable character to me than the Ginny-liking Harry. Eurgh. I'm an H/G shipper, especially because she's all nonchalant and spunky now. Well, I may not be nearly as strong and H/G shipper as I am and R/Hr shipper, but Ginny's the one person I'd choose for Harry in our current situation. Their flirting wasn't really flirting anymore, Tina and Terry are getting to know each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. The keyword being friend, I decided to show that side of the relationship. Glad you liked it and I hope this one didn't rely on the book too much. The late review was fine! Ack, headgear and wires?? Not fun, not fun at all.

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! Also, I'm having a little poll here. I kind of want to change my penname--okay I really want to--to QuidditchMoke. Let me know what you guys think!!! (I may go through with it even if I don't have support, though)**


	17. The Third Task

**I'M FINALLY UPDATING! Yes, suddenly…somewhere in the middle of February…closer to the end probably…I realized that I hadn't updated this fic in ages, and now look! Four months! I should be punished. Well, I suppose losing reviewers is a punishment in itself. :sniffs:**

**OotP**** REQUESTS! Come on, people, I honestly haven't gotten that many. So if you've got anything, let me know, and if you've already told me…remind me!**

**This chapter is one of two parts…possibly more than that…should be exciting…**

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"Over here," said Ron, leading Tina and Hermione over to several empty rows toward the top.

"Ooh, good view," said Tina, sitting down. "Hey Hermione, do you mind if I maybe take out Chipki for a bit?"

"Oh, all right," said Hermione, edging away, then finally getting up and sitting on the other side of Ron.

"Glad you don't mind," Tina muttered sarcastically. Ron snorted.

"Where're your mum and Bill sitting?" she asked him.

"Oh, somewhere further down," Ron replied.

The girls nodded. However, several minutes later Mrs. Weasley and Bill waved at them from below.

"Let's go down," suggested Hermione. "They're about halfway up the stands, but we'll still be able to see just as well."

"Okay," Tina put Chipki on her shoulder and she and Ron got up to follow Hermione down the steps. No sooner had they reached Bill and Mrs. Weasley than Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out over the stands, making them all jump.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty five points each — Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The five of them cheered as loud as they could; Mrs. Weasley gave a loud whoop that made the other four stare it her. "In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" They applauded politely, though Hermione clapped the loudest. Ron narrowed his eyes. "And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Harry looked up at all of them in the stands and waved. They grinned and waved back, Tina nearly sending Chipki flying off her shoulder.

"So…on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three — two — one —"

With a short blast from Bagman's whistle, Harry and Cedric went inside the maze.

"There they go," said Tina.

"All or nothing," murmured Ron.

"Viktor's going in!" said Hermione. Tina gave her a somewhat withering look. Ron continued to watch Harry's progress through the maze, but his ears looked like beats.

"And there goes Fleur," said Bill, as the French girl disappeared into the maze.

The quintet watched Harry follow his path through the maze. Everything that lay on it seemed to move further down as he got closer, or just take a different path and leave, disinterested.

"Look!" Ron cried suddenly. "Look at Diggory!" The other four followed his outstretched finger; Tina gave a quick yelp and Hermione brought her hand to her mouth.

"What is that thing?" said Mrs. Weasley, horrified.

"A Blast-Ended Skrewt," breathed Tina. "Oh my god, RUN MAN, RUN!"

As though he'd heard her, Cedric ran from the skrewt, ending up on Harry's path. It looked as though they were talking for a second, then Cedric moved along another path.

"A boggart," hissed Hermione; Fleur had just run away from an enormous snake, but now that Harry was closer to it, a dementor was facing him.

"He's using the Patronus!" said Bill. "Harry can do a Patronus!" His jaw dropped as he watched the stag erupt from Harry's wand and chase the boggart-dementor.

"No, you idiot, it's a boggart!" said Ron, bouncing nervously up and down in his seat. Just as Cedric seemed to have heard Tina, Harry seemed to hear Ron and with a wave of his wand the dementor vanished.

A few more minutes passed, and Harry moved forward. Then…

"Is that a cloud?" said Tina incredulously.

"It's gold, you dolt," said Ron. She elbowed him.

"I've read about that somewhere…" said Hermione. "But that can't be…"

She was cut off by Fleur's shriek of terror. They whirled around to look at her; This time Hermione gasped and Tina's eyes widened with shock. Mrs. Weasley seized Ron's arm. The skrewt looked larger next to Fleur than it had next to Cedric, even more so because it was threatening to crush her completely. The skrewt was standing—if it could be called that—upon a particularly large bit of the hedge that was jutting out. Mrs. Weasley's hold on Ron tightened; The skrewt leapt…Harry took a daring step into the gold mist hovering before him. His hair stood on end; his glasses dangled dangerously, threatening to fall…up?

"Inversion mist," said Hermione, pointing at Harry. "It just flips him upside down; all he has to do is step out to fix it."

Before they could look back at Harry, all the crowd's head's whipped towards Fleur again. Tina leaned forward…Fleur had sent up red sparks.

Harry stepped out of the mist.

"I don't think he knows what happened," said Ron. "Didn't hear the sparks…or see them, I don't think."

"The mist might block out sound," suggested Tina. "And he was looking away from the sparks."

Ron shrugged uncertainly and turned back to the task.

After about two minutes of nothing happening, Tina turned to Hermione. "Listen," she said. "Are you really going to visit Vik in the summer?"

"Why?" said Hermione, looking at her. "Does it matter to you?"

"No, not really," Tina replied. "But it just seems…I dunno, can't really say…I mean, he's still _four years_ older than you. Does that seem right?"

"Age doesn't really matter to us Tina," Hermione said, turning to the maze again. "I think it's safe to say I'm at least somewhat mature for my age, and Viktor obviously doesn't care that I'm younger than him anyway."

"Understandable," Tina said. "But still…I dunno…Vik's cool and all; don't think I'm saying he's a threat to your 'young innocence' or anything like that—" Hermione made a face, "—it just still seems like a big gap. I mean, the four years between fourteen and eighteen? They're like dog years, man, _dog years_."

"Thanks for the warning," Hermione replied sarcastically. "But I do thank you for not doubting my judgment of who dangers my 'young innocence'."

"No, I doubt your judgment," Tina said, her eyes wandering to the task. "I just figure you can take care of yourself. Besides, you're _fourteen_, and Vik isn't that kind of guy. Thank _god._"

Hermione punched her in the arm.

"LOOK AT HARRY!" shouted Ron, grabbing Tina by the arm.

"Wha — oh my _gosh_..."

Harry was face to face with a Blast-Ended Skrewt. It looked ready to sting him; Harry's wand let out a red light that looked like a stunning spell, but it merely bounced off the skrewt, singing his hair on return. Another jet of light—his mouth seemed to be trying the Impediment Jinx…and then…it worked. The skrewt slowed down, and Harry ran away as fast as he could. He used the Four-Point Spell again ("I'm so glad I taught him that," said Hermione; Tina rolled her eyes, causing Ron to let out a small snort) then froze completely somewhere along the path.

"Why's he stopped?" said Hermione, puzzled.

"It looks like he's listening to something…" Tina said, squinting at him.

"Cedric and Krum," said Ron. "Look, they're on the next path; he must be listening to them."

"Wonder why…" But just then the chattering of the onlookers was shattered by Cedric's agonized shrieks. Hermione covered her ears; Ron and Tina stared, wide-eyed, as Cedric writhed on the ground, his every nerve possessed by pain…

"Harry's going through the hedge!" Ron yelled, now covering his ears to the sound as well. Tina nodded then did the same. They turned and saw Harry kick through the hedge, pull out his wand, and Stun Krum. The screaming stopped. Relieved, everyone lowered their hands.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, panting somewhat.

"No idea," answered Ron.

"It sounded horrible, though," said Tina.

"I think…" said Mrs. Weasley, "I think it was…the Cruciatus Curse."

"No!"

"Well, it could've been something else, but it just sounded too familiar…" She shuddered.

"Viktor wouldn't do that," Hermione shook her head disbelievingly.

"Of course not, dear," Mrs. Weasley replied. "No, something isn't right."

They fell into silence, even as they watched Harry confront a sphinx, pacing in front of it for several minutes. Eventually it let him pass, and Hermione, looking intrigued, still said nothing about it. When someone did break the silence, it was Bill.

"They're close," was all he said. Everyone sat up a bit straighter, not just in their little group but all over the stands.

"Heck, they're there," breathed Tina. "They're tied, just touch it Harry, touch it — wait a minute —"

"ACROMANTULA!" cried Hermione, standing up and pointing at it. Tina pulled her back down, her eyes transfixed on the enormous spider that was upon first Cedric, then Harry. It lifted him into the air with its front legs; Harry tried to kick at it, but instead his leg was cut by its pincers.

Tina gave a frightened squeak and put her hand over her mouth. Harry pointed his wand at the spider; a jet of red light flew out and it dropped him. Harry pointed his wand at it again; Cedric did the same…and they Stunned it. Their two spells combined sent the spider flying sideways, till it lay frozen on the path.

"That," said Ron. "Was scary."

"Don't have to tell me twice," said Tina.

"Wait…Diggory isn't taking the cup," said Hermione. "He's hesitating."

"Looks like he and Harry are talking," said Bill. "I think they they're negotiating somehow."

"How noble of them," said Mrs. Weasley. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Wait, Diggory's helping him up," said Tina. "I think…I think they're going to tie…on purpose!"

"Looks like it; they've got their hands over the cup and everything," said Ron.

Harry and Cedric's hands were poised over each handle of the cup. They waited a few seconds, and then…they touched it.

Where the two boys were there was suddenly a whirl of colors. It spun for what seemed like an age to the waiting watchers…it vanished.

The suspense-filled silence instantly broke into a uproar; a din of hundreds of voices in the same confused tone. Everyone rose, their questions and exclamations flying through the air like ropes of a mighty wind. The eyes of Tina's party were all wide and shocked. Their eyes said what everyone else was asking:

"What happened to them?"

**

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Author's Note- Wow, that took me like a month and a half to write because I was so lazy. It's sad, isn't it? Anyway, probably not my best chapter, but I'm hoping the next'll be better. And now, time to thank those of you who are still with me:**

**Tikvah**** Ariel- **Well, now that your bio and summary have been changed, do you like QuidditchMoke a bit better:looks hopeful: Yeah, not overly scandalous, but my focus was the reaction, because I'd be fuming about something like this, even if I didn't show it. Glad you like the lack of book-ness in it; I like it in that chapter too, because it's a scene from the book which I added on to in an—if I do say so myself—especially good way. Hermione didn't want to pass the notes, after all, she stopped it! But, I myself am I note passer, if, you know, the person I'm passing to is close enough. Actually, two of my friends have an intriguing new way of passing notes: They hide the note paper inside the empty cartilage of this pen one of them has. They continuously have to pretend to drop the pen, but it works! I have the Lord of the Rings 2 and 3 soundtracks! Good stuff.

**Moonbugg**- They're not really boyfriends:turns beat red: No, really, _ew_. Glad you like the notes, they seem to be popular. I should add them in again later…YES I changed my name! I'm sure you'll find something Xtra great to change yours too, though I do like MoonBugg meself.

**Venus725**- You update, I update. How's that for a new deal, eh? Nah, I'd probably suck at it. Rita is a wench; the woman you love to hate. But somehow, she's one of my favorite characters. So mean. So _cool_. This one is kinda long, but you probably won't be satisfied since it has, you know, nothing. :sigh: Glad you like B&B! Come back and leave us a reviewzy sometime; even though we're not at sixteen yet we can use all the moral support we can get! Oh, and Draco says hi (I'm talking to him on the phone in Martinique). So does the Draco Doll. Mwaha.

**Flagstonejester**- Woo! Approval for the POVs! It may not be one of my best, but I like chapter sixteen a lot. This one, well…probably not one of the greats, but hey, it's something! Glad to have a fan of the details, they're so fun to add in!

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**THANK YOU GUYS** for staying with me! 


	18. Epiphanies

**Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy****! I'm sorry. I'm…sorry. And I'm sorry! See…okay, you're sick of excuses I'm sure, and of my long author notes full of emphasized apologies…HAVE I SAID I'M SORRY!**

**Okay, so…EXCITEMENT MOUNTING FOR HBP! **

**I.**** Am. So. PSYCHED. I just looked up my town on potterparties . com, and it's actually there! Like, the Barnes and Nobles I went to for OotP is there and I can't WAIT to go with my friends…!**

**I love the exclamation point. Whoever created it totally went to a bookstore at midnight to wait for a book.**

**But then again…if there were no exclamation points…how were there books?**

**All right.**** Enough. Go. Read. Eat.**

**WAIT! I'm gonna have to stop you again. This chapter, by the way, is _DEDICATED WITH CHOCOLATE SYRUP_ to Venus725!**

"Where are they?" cried Tina, looking around violently. _"Where are they!"_

"Damned if I know," breathed Ron, still staring at the spot where Harry and Cedric had been only seconds ago.  
"Careful with your language, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley. "Oh my goodness…come now you four, let's go down to the judges' table…"

"Is it some addition to the Third Task that we weren't told about?" asked Bill, looking as confused as the rest.

"No…" Hermione spoke in almost a whisper. "This was planned and known about…just not by the right people."

Tina and Ron looked at her, wide eyed, not sure if she meant what they thought. Could it be…

"Attention, students," boomed Ludo Bagman's voice. "Parents, and teachers. Please, do not panic. Remain calm and remain seated while the judges proceed to sort out this problem."

All these words did, however, was only stir up the crowd more, causing several screams and more frightened looks, especially when Bagman left the judges table and disappeared from sight.

The fact the judges, powerful and intelligent wizards, might not know what had happened…seemed to make everyone feel completely and utterly vulnerable. Dumbledore's eyes, whose twinkling had been visible from the very top of the stands as the night began, were now devoid of such a light. They seemed pensive, thoughtful…anxious, in their very depths.

They had reached the bottom of the stands. Hardly anyone was still seated; they were all moving around the stands to compare what they'd seen with friends, running around the maze and judges screaming questions, or hurried into the castle, to get away from it all as quickly as possible.

"Albus!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "Albus…what's happened?"

The five of them looked up at the face behind the silvery beard, those painfully emotional and thoughtful eyes behind their glasses.

"I cannot say, Molly," he said, his voice heavy with…was it regret? "I can't say that I know…but it is all we can do to hope that they return."

Tina's eyes widened and she saw Hermione's do the same beside her. Ron still looked stunned.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Bill. Dumbledore looked at him.

"We can wait."

And so they did.

After about an hour in which the murmurs of the students and staff did nothing to decrease, Tina nudged Hermione; Karkaroff had suddenly grabbed his arm, and was now running to Snape. He muttered something quickly, showed Snape his arm, and from the looks of it they were having a hushed argument. After a minute or so, Karkaroff went back the Durmstrange ship. Turning to speak to each other, Hermione and Tina failed to see him emerge and leave the grounds entirely.

"Good god, I hope Rita Skeeter isn't here," said Tina suddenly, the thought striking her and making her insides seize up.

"I hope not…but we'd see her near the judges' table," Hermione whispered back.

"Yeah, we — wait, what?"

Despite all that was happening, Hermione looked excited as she temporarily forgot it all and began to speak.

"I figured it out!" she breathed. "I mean, I think I did…"

"Figured out…what?" said Tina, her eyebrows raised in anticipation.

"Tina…do you remember when Harry said Rita might be using bugging?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, she is!"

Tina did an imitation of Hermione's voice. "How many times do I have to tell you _muggle__ technology doesn't work at Hogwarts!_"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "No, idiot," she said, now rolling them. "I meant that literally…I think dear Rita can turn into a bug."

"A bug…you mean…ooh…" Tina's expression now became one of dawning comprehension. "But she can't be registered, right? Otherwise Dumbledore would've known about it."

"Yes, I don't think she is," Hermione said. "But it makes sense, doesn't it?"

Tina thought about it. It seemed to fit; all the conversations with the Slytherins, the places Rita could've hid…and then…

"Hermione!" Tina cried, still in a lowered voice. "During the second task, there was a beetle on my seat…I'll bet anything that was her!"

Hermione looked thoughtful, then looked as if she'd had an unbelievable epiphany. "Yes…of course! Viktor told me I had a water beetle in my hair after that task! She must've come down and crawled onto me after she'd gotten what she needed about you!"

Both girls looked amazed and quite pleased with themselves. "Well, keep an eye out for her tonight," said Tina.

"Why only me?" Hermione gave her a quizzical look.

"Um…duh! I'm afraid of bugs."

"Oh, come off it, this isn't a real bug." And it was with a thoughtful look on Tina's part that the conversation ended.

"There!" Dumbledore said, sounding both relieved, nervous and triumphant. His voice was only audible to those nearby; the judges, the Weasleys, Hermione, and Tina. They all looked in the direction he was headed—Harry and Cedric lay face down in the grass at the beginning of the maze.

The stands erupted. The wave of fright that had shaken everyone when Harry and Cedric disappeared returned full-force as everyone pushed and shoved their way down to the maze.

Right behind Dumbledore, the Weasleys, Hermione and Tina were able to reach Harry just in time to hear…

"He's back. Voldemort."

Tina sucked in her breath, looking at Ron and Hermione to be sure they'd heard what she had. They both looked just as terrified, their faces containing a sort of numb disbelief.

"What's going on? What's happened?" Cornelius Fudge had jogged over from the judges' table. "My God—Diggory!" he whispered. Tina, Ron, and Hermione leaned in closer to look at Cedric, not having payed much attention to his unconscious form at first. Their eyes widened.

"Dumbledore —" said Fudge. "He's dead!"

The numb disbelief seemed to fill every fiber of the air around them as the words were echoed into the night. Cedric Diggory was dead. And Voldemort…Voldemort was back.

Mrs. Weasley pulled them away from the huddle forming around Harry. Her face was white; she looked peaky.

"It can't be," Bill said after a long pause.

No one spoke. None of them, it seemed, wanted to voice the feeling they were beginning to have…the feeling that it was true, and that he was indeed back.

They were back inside the castle; Mrs. Weasley told them to get some clothes and then go back to the hospital wing to see if Harry had arrived yet. Ron had already gone, not wanting to wait for the girls, and Hermione had gone to the bathroom, telling Tina she would catch up with her. So, Tina walked to the hospital wing in silence, throught he deserted corridors, alone with her thoughts.

"Tina!"

She turned around. It was Terry.

"Oh my gosh, Terry!" she cried, running towards him. "Oh, god, I — I'm glad to see you."

"I've been looking everywhere for you." He said, sounding somewhat relieved. "How's Harry?"

"I'm not too sure," Tina breathed, fear shining in her eyes. "He seemed really…exhausted, when they got back. He was holding on to Diggory's body as if he was afraid someone would try to kill him again—"

"Body?" said Terry. "So it's true then, is it? Diggory's…dead?"

"Yeah," Tina's voice had gone a bit hollow. "I…I think it might have something to do with…You-Know-Who."

Terry's eyes grew wide. "No…"

"That was what Harry said, too; when he got back he said…he said You-Know-Who's back."

Terry stared at Tina. "But…how?"

"Who knows," muttered Tina.

"But…it can't be true, can it?"

"Harry definitely wouldn't lie about something like that, Terry. And he wouldn't just imagine it either. No…I think he's right. He's back."

A silence followed this.

"Terry, I'm…I'm kind of scared," confessed Tina, gulping a little. She felt her eyes water.

"Well you should be if he's — I mean, if it's true. We've all heard what it was like back when You-Know-Who was at large; the manipulations, the torture, the killings…"

"Shh!" Tina shook her head. The fear in her eyes seemed to grow slightly; Terry hugged her.

"He'll try to kill Harry," She said in a muffled voice. Her head wasn't buried in Terry's shoulder, nor was she crying, but she still sounded odd. "He always has. Terry…what if something happens to him? Or to any of my friends, or yours?"

At this, Terry, pulled away slightly, so he could look her in the eye.

"It won't," he said quietly, as if reprimanding her for even thinking such a thing. "We'll fight." His deep gaze flickered, looking somewhere other than her eyes. Tina felt herself do the same…they were moving closer, pulled by some magnetic force more powerful than both of them…there was barely an inch separating their faces…Tina stole another glance into his eyes…

And then, gently, their lips met. Tina felt the fear in her eyes diminish slightly as they closed. All her worries existed, and her anxiousness was by no means quelled…but it waited. For this moment, she let herself drift away from the troubling world to Terry's kiss, taking comfort in the fact that at least one good thing had happened tonight.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! There it is, another chapter, next to come soon I hope since I'm home alone doing nothing but gnawing my nails over everything Harry Potter-related for the next four days. FOUR FREAKING DAYS!**

**So…if I get to one hundred reviews, reviewer number one hundred will get an ADVANCED COPY OF…an HBP STICKER! WOOOOO!**

**Just go with it.**

**Venus725- **Yeah, I love showing what happens in the maze from this point of view too…though it appears I've made a few errors here and there. Luckily, they're the kind you can twist; like when I've got Fleur and the skrewt…I failed to show her being Stunned for no apparent reason (by Crouch Jr.), but since I didn't really show much of her after the skrewt, there's a chance…right? LOVING your OotP requests…I was thinking of doing all of those! Clearly, great minds think alike. Except for Snape's Worst Memory. Hmmm…definite possibilities; I guess I could show Tina's reaction or something…do Hermione and Ron even get told though? Anyway, yeah, Snape is cool somehow. I was telling my friend the other day about how even though he's an injust, biased, evil losing git of a teacher, he's a good one, eh? Like the way his presence demands silence…that's a skill, my friend. And of course Alan Rickman portrays him brilliantly…I mean, except for that whole potbelly thing. This chapter is yours completely, dahl; you've been updating, I've been reading, and now I give you YOUR reward, since I have no Draco guitars (at least not that I'm going to give away…!) Loving your moral support too, in B and B, and here…THANK YOOOU!

**Flagstonejester****- **Glad you liked the last chapter! Oh, god, I hope you haven't given up on me now…COME BACK! Again, a request I also considered and planned on doing…I love it when my reviewers read my mind!

**Nikki Weasley- **Glad you're liking the stories, and nice nickname!

**Moonbugg****- **EEEEEEEEEE! I don't care if you've neglected your duties; what matters is you've come back for them! I get what you're saying on the maze, and when I reread GoF with it from his POV, of course I felt that way too…like he can't be seen or heard. Well, here's part two, and you'll be pleased to know (I hope) that there's a part three on its way! Don't chuck stones at me for not updating, please!

**Funness****- **Yeah, chapter sixteen's WeasleyRamble had to be conspicuous, yet Tina-ish enough to seem normal. The idea was for Rita to hear a particularly excessive shpeel about Ron, leading her to think and write all the rubbish that she did. Or…I did…gyah. It was tame, I know, but I liked the idea of Rita getting both me and Hermione together…two birds with one shtone…mehe. You have no idea how high that praise was for me, your opinion means so much and it's great to hear you've got a high one!

**You guys all ROCK…and that can only get better if ya come back and review…**


	19. Cornelius Creates Confusion

**WARNING: This may be the fastest update I've ever done.**

**Okay, a note on the last chapter which I forgot to add…got mysteriously deleted…**

**Dumb, I know. I loved writing the Triwizard stuff; I always do, and I realize the end was a bit off, but I dunno, I just felt like adding something more. I felt it needed a plot point other than those we've already seen, and I'm weirded out of my mind by the one I put in. Especially considering Tina is still me (or some variation of me in any case)…that was waaaay too strange to write. I felt slightly contaminated afterward, disgusted in my own freaky way that I wrote it. But hey, it's what I felt like writing, and hopefully it didn't come off as completely crap…?**

**Anyway, here's the last GoF chapter :sniff! Wait, actually…no. There'll be one more I think…short, but sweet…**

* * *

Tina walked the rest of the way to the hospital wing feeling slightly dazed.

What exactly had just happened? In all the confusion, the mad panic, the night's excitement…had she and Terry just kissed? Tina couldn't help but shake her head disbelievingly; of course, at the most unlikely moment for something like that, it would have to happen to her.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but smile to herself, a small, calming smile. It did little to subdue her mounting nervousness as she approached the hospital wing, but once again she took comfort in the fact that it was something real.

Like her friends. Seeing the Weasleys in the hospital wing made Tina feel glad all over that she had them all; it seemed nothing truly bad could happen in the company of such close friends and family. She thought of her family at home. What would they say? What would they think? What would they _do_, for that matter, when they found out? Tina thought of her young brother and sister…would they be safe? Would anyone?

Tina shook off these thoughts, speaking in the silence that filled the room.

"Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Professor Snape popped his head in a little while ago, saying he's with the headmaster and the person responsible for all this. I'm not sure I heard correctly…but she said something about Mad-Eye." Mrs. Weasley looked more ashen-faced than ever; Ron and Bill looked slightly pale, too.

"Professor Moody!"

"Yes, it seems…well, he said something about an imposter, I think, I'm not quite sure, he was speaking to Madam Pomfrey before she left…"

"Is Ginny coming?" asked Tina. The thought of an imposter in their midst was a bit much for her already clouded thoughts; she had forgotten Ginny all together that night, since Ginny hadn't sat with them, come down with them, and now might now know what had happened.

"I'm here," said a voice by the door. They turned around to see Ginny, her face white and anxious, following Hermione through the door. "Oh by the way Tina, Terry Boot was looking for you earlier. Did you — ?"

"I found him," Tina said quickly.

"And I found Ginny in the common room," said Hermione. "She was looking for us."

"Well, as glad as I am that you're okay, darling," said Mrs. Weasley. "I think it'd be best if you went on up to the dormitories and went to bed. No use sticking around here."

Ginny looked thoroughly angered by this, but after several attempts to speak (all of which failed), she turned on her heel and left.

Several minutes later, the door of the hospital wing opened again, and in came — on a stretcher — Mad-Eye Moody.

"Wha —?" Hermione hushed Ron and pointed. Moody looked thinner and paler than he had that night; his magical eye and wooden leg were being carried by Madam Pomfrey.

"The real Moody," voiced Bill quietly, putting two and two together. Moody was placed in a bed nearby them, fed some potion and covered up, his eye and leg placed on his bedside table.

"So," said Ron, seeming determined to speak and organized his thoughts. "The cup…was a portkey, right?"

The others nodded.

"Which took Harry…where?"

"To wherever You-Know-Who was at the time of his return." Said Tina. Ron gave her a look that said this was clearly no help.

"All right, and you know who came back." More nods. "And he…killed _Diggory?_ But why?"

At this Mrs. Weasley and Bill gave dry, humorless laughs. "'Why?'" Bill repeated. "No reason."

In response to the confused expressions on Ron's, Hermione's, and Tina's faces, Mrs. Weasley spoke again.

"Dears, what you've got to try to understand about You-Know-Who is that he doesn't need a reason to kill, torture, or do anything of the sort. I'm sure his original reason was power…but now that he's got it, death and destruction are just byproducts of getting more. He obviously didn't want or need Cedric Diggory there, so…" — her voice shook — "he killed the poor boy."

More silence followed, as this sunk in. It felt so wrong, so horrible…an innocent life lost…gone to waste. Cedric could've been great…but his future had been destroyed, destroyed by the most evil of all wizards…

Tina felt her jaw tighten with anger.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley was growing worried. After about ten or fifteen minutes, when Madam Pomfrey had returned to wait in the room with them, she began asking her where Harry was. The others joined in, harassing Madam Pomfrey with questions, demanding to know where Harry was, what he was doing, and why he hadn't been brought up already.

Just then, Harry entered, followed by a large black dog. Fighting her instinct to shrink back (owing to her slightly improving fear of dogs), Tina gave the dog a small smile. Perhaps it was out of relief, to see that Harry was back and that he was okay.

"Harry! Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley rushed forward, but Dumbledore stopped her.

"Molly," he said, holding his hand up. "Please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him, you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, and turned upon the four of them. "Do you hear?" she hissed. "He needs quiet!"

Ron raised an eyebrow sideways at Tina and Hermione.

"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, looking apprehensively at Sirius the Dog, "May I ask what —?"

"This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while. I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry — I will wait while you get into bed."

"I will be back to see you as soon a I have met with Fudge, Harry," Dumbledore continued, the silence between his words broken only by the sound of Hermione nervously (and Tina had a feeling it was also obliviously) gnawing on her fingernails. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." And with a swift movement, Dumbledore had left.

"Is he okay?" Harry asked, looking at Moody while Madam Pomfrey got him some pajamas.

"He'll be fine," she said, pulling the screens around him so he could change. Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, Hermione, and Tina settled themselves in chairs around Harry. They looked at him cautiously, not wanting to ask what had happened, but wondering all the same, and hoping he was all right.

"I'm all right," he said, seeing their looks. "Just tired." Mrs. Weasley smoothed out his sheets, and she sniffed.

Madam Pomfrey returned with a goblet full of potion for Harry, which he drank. After a few seconds, he was fast asleep. Ron chuckled despite it all. Harry did look rather odd, his glasses dangling, his mouth slightly open. Tina chortled herself and removed his glasses.

"Do you lot want any Energizer?" asked Madam Pomfrey, referring to the potion that would keep them awake for the night without feeling tired.

Mrs. Weasley looked around the group, asking with her eyes. "Well, give us a goblet full and we'll take it in small amounts if we want any."

Tina got off the chair and took off her cloak, using it to make a small pillow. She then sat down by the wall, resting her head against it.

"Good idea," said Ron, arranging his the same way and lying down completely on the floor. They seemed to be the only two with any intention of sleeping, though Hermione folded her cloak into a pillow she placed behind her on the chair. Their heads felt too full; Tina didn't want to have to think about the night's ordeal and the skeleton of thoughts she had of how it occurred. Perhaps in the morning, it would all make more sense.

* * *

Tina woke to the sound of voices outside the door of the hospital wing. They went by quickly, but sounded agitated all the same. It seemed to be Snape and the Minister, and the room suddenly went a bit cold.

"Minister, you cannot — the Headmaster — take it away…"

"Severus, we are at great personal risk, it's only fitting — just a precaution, that's all —"

"The headmaster would never permit it — there is little reason and I refuse to let you…"

Their voices faded away.

"Ron," Tina whispered. "Ron, wake up!" She shook the lump curled up several feet from her; Ron's cloak had somehow become wrapped around his head.

"Ishmorning?" He said groggily. Tina was felt quite odd; usually, someone else would be shaking _her_ unconscious sleeping form.

"No, but McGonagall and Fudge just passed, arguing — oh, here, let's take a sip of the Energizer, you're useless like this —"

With some help from Hermione, Tina managed to make Ron drink a few sips of Energizer, taking a couple herself as well (though she was still shocked to find she had woken with such ease).

A few minutes later after Hermione and Tina had repeated the brief argument to Ron in hushed tones, the voices returned, though by no means had anything been resolved.

"How dare you — _how dare you_ — have you no sense at all, Minister!"

"Minerva, it was for everyone's own good, a dangerous criminal —"

"EVERYONE'S OWN GOOD! YOU THINK _THAT_ IS WHAT'S GOOD!"

"A bit louder, Professor, we can't hear you," Tina muttered sarcastically.

"They'll wake him if they don't shut up!" said Ron, his eyes glued to the door.

"What are they shouting about?" asked Bill. "Nothing else can have happened, can it?"

Mrs. Weasley stood up. "That's Fudge's voice, and that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it?" But what are they arguing about?"

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —"

"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" shouted Professor McGonagall, seething. "When Dumbledore finds out —"

The doors flew open. Fudge sauntered in, followed by Snape and Professor McGonagall.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge barked at Mrs. Weasley.

"He's not here," she snapped in an equal tone of impatience. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you thin you'd do better to —"

The door (which was still swinging), opened again. Dumbledore glided in.

"What has happened?" He asked sharply. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —"

There was time for one look of immense confusion between Ron, Hermione, and Tina, before Professor McGonagall shrieked her reply.

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore! The minister has seen to that!"

Her hands were fists now, and her face purpled before their eyes.

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," Snape said quietly (well, compared to McGonagall), "He seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch--"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall shouted, shaking. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"

"My dear woman!" yelled Fudge, his head looking like a giant beet. "As Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous —"

But Professor McGonagall screamed over him.

"The moment that — that thing entered the room, it swooped down on Crouch and — and —"

The party by Harry's bed gave a collective shudder. _Two kisses in one night_, Tina thought vaguely.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" said Fudge, as though this action was simply dripping with reason. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, looking slightly disgusted by Fudge's ignorance. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them?" blustered Fudge. "Well, that's no mystery, is it? He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort _was_ giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Somehow, hearing it come out of Dumbledore's very mouth made it seem completely real. Fudge was reeling; the shock seemed much too immense for him.

"You-Know-Who…" he sputtered, "returned? Preposterous, Come now, Dumbledore…"

"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you, we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort — learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins, went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."

Slowly, everything seemed to be falling into place, but at the same time it didn't. Tina felt as if what they had felt was most definitely not confusion compared to their current state.

"See here, Dumbledore," Fudge was saying, smiling slightly, almost pleadingly. "you — you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who—back? Come now, come now…certainly, Crouch may have _believed _himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders — but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"

"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore simply. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office. I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."

Fudge continued to smile as though indulging some child telling the story of how it was thrown off a high building into a pile of garbage by a mad goat. "You are — er — prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

Tina raised her eyebrows as if challenging Fudge to repeat that. Unfortunately, he couldn't see her doing it. Sirius growled.

"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore, glaring into Fudge's eyes. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's actual account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge glanced at Harry's bed.

"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who…well…" There was a pause as he searched for the right words.

"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," Harry's voice said quietly. Tina and the others jumped…when had Harry woken up?

Fudge's face, which had gone back to its regular color in the past few minutes, grew red again. He still looked as obstinate as ever.

"And if I have?" he challenged. Tina's jaw had dropped in disbelief of the man's denial; Ron and Hermione were undergoing similar reactions to it.

"If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet?" Fudge continued, seeming to think he'd trapped Dumbledore. "A Parselmouth, eh? And Having funny turns all over the place —"

"I assume that you are referring to the pain sHarry has been experiencing in his scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.

"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" said Fudge triumphantly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly — hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Cornelius," Dumbledore said as Ron's jaw proceeded to go a bit closer to the floor. "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."

Fudge stepped back, but stubbornly replied, "You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before…"

"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry yelled. He tried to get up, but Mrs. Weasley stopped him. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their name! Lucius Malfoy —"

Snape gave an odd sort of twitch, Ron a knowing nod.

"Malfoy was cleared!" Fudge cried, looking affronted. "A very old family — donations to excellent causes —"

"Macnair!" Harry continued. Tina's mind was stirred. The executioner?

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle —"

But Fudge remained obstinate, accusing Harry of looking the names up in records and coming up with some crackpot story...calling him untrustworthy because he was a Parselmouth.

"You fool!" cried Professor McGonagall. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, fuming again. "It seems to me that you are determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked or these last thirteen years!"

At this, Hermione shook her head and pulled Ron and Tina back down to the floor, whispering.

"That fool!" she hissed, echoing Professor McGonagall's thoughts. "What're we going to do if he doesn't believe Harry?"

"Yeah," said Ron numbly. "I mean, we can't do much with the Ministry against it all, can we?"

"I can't believe him," said Tina, shaking her head. "I mean, he just won't accept the fact that something bad can actually happen to him anymore! One little puncture in his perfect bubble of a world and what does he do? He denies it!"

"Shh," said Hermione, but she nodded in understanding. "I think —"

But she was drowned out by Dumbledore's rising voice.

"You are blinded," he said to Fudge, the power of his words filling the room. "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much important, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any — and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act — and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"

"Insane," Fudge whispered. "Mad…"

Madam Pomfrey had entered the room at some point or the other, and she stood there with her hands over her mouth. Ron was staring at Fudge disbelievingly, Hermione defiantly, and Tina with an expression of deep dislike.

Tina shook slightly. It had just occurred to her — really _struck_ her — that Voldemort was out there, somewhere, alive and thriving. What was he doing now? What was he planning to do? She had a vision of Death Eaters opening a bottle of champagne and letting it spray out over You-Know-Who's head. Somehow, it seemed unlikely.

"There," Snape was saying to Fudge. He harshly pulled up the sleeve of his roves on his left hand; Fudge shrunk back. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the signed burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge stepped away, shaking his head. It seemed the words had just bounced off him, and all he could do was stare in revulsion at the tattoo. Proceeding to tell Dumbledore that he and Professors McGonagall and Snape were playing some hideous joke on him, he stepped back again.

"Your winnings," he added shortly, plopping a bag of gold next to Harry before leaving. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"

He jammed his hat onto his head and trooped out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

"There is work to be done," Dumbledore said, turning to the group around Harry's bed. Everyone seemed to sit up a bit more, rapt with attention. "Molly…am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley, looking resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," Dumbledore continued. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," Bill said as he stood up. "I'll go now."

"Excellent. Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry —"

"Leave it to me," said Bill. He patted Harry's shoulder, kissed Mrs. Weasley's check, pulled on his cloak, and strode out of the room.

"Tina," said Dumbledore, startling her. "Will you mother and father be assisting us?"

"Definitely," said Tina, nodding vigorously. "They'll both do whatever they can…even Ma."

"Good. I will need your father to contact those he can make aware of this also, as well as your relatives in India and America. The more international involvement and awareness, the better."

"I'll go send him an owl right now."

"All right, but be careful to word it cautiously. Tell him I will contact him soon."

Tina jogged out of the room. She found a piece of parchment in her pocket, as well as a muggle ballpoint pen, which she always made a point of carrying. She figured the safest way to word it would be in Hindi, so she did her best.

_Ma, Papa—_

_Aaj__ Tournament ka teesra task thi.__ Lekin jab hum sabne socha ki ho gaya...jeet gaya…mere dost aur doosri Hogwarts champion ne…er…disappear kiya. Headmaster ne kaha ki mere dost (jiski naam mei yaha bata nei sakti hoon) ne Tum-Jaanti-Ho-Kaun ko dekha…aur vo ne vaapas aa gaya. Papa, tumko logo ko bataana parega…usse bolo ki humko larna parega. America aur desh mei humaari rishtedaaro ko batado, aur usse bhi kaho ki aur witch aur wizard ko batade. Headmaster tumaare saat baad mei baat karenge. Aakhen khol; sambhaalo apne aap ko._

_Mere chhote bhai aur behn ko bhi sambhaalo. Koi din mei hum sab phir milenge. _

_Tina_

She looked the letter over, amazed that she had written it so fast. Then she quickly grabbed a school owl (which nearly bit her for it) and tied the parchment to it, throwing it violently out into the night.

Tina returned to the hospital wing to find a very odd scene before her eyes.

Sirius was standing up, human again, opposite Snape. Furthermore, they were shaking hands, though they let go the instant Tina entered, and she wasn't entirely sure she had seen it correctly.

"That will do to be going on with," Dumbledore said, stepping between them. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."

Harry tried to protest to this, but Sirius managed to subdue him. He grasped Harry's hand briefly, then turned into a dog, ran to the door, and left.

"Severus," Dumbledore continued gravely. "You know what I must ask yo to do. If you are ready…if you are prepared…"

"I am," said Snape gravely.

"Then good luck," Dumbledore said. Snape left.

After several minutes he broke the silence again. "I must go downstairs," he said. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry — take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."

No one spoke, or moved for that matter, for a while. Finally Mrs. Weasley wheedled Harry to take his potion again.

"Try and think about something else for a while…think about what you're going to do with your winnings!"

"I don't want that gold," Harry said dully. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."

There was a pause in which Harry's breathing became shallow and shaky.

"It wasn't your fault Harry," Mrs. Weasley whispered.

"I told hi to take the cup with me," Harry said.

Mrs. Weasley set down the potion and embraced him, and Tina could tell from what she could see of Harry's face that this put all his feelings into perspective. His eyes seemed watery…and who could blame him…

_Slam!_

Everyone turned to the window, from where the noise had come. Hermione stood there, her hand clamped tightly over something.

"Sorry," she whispered. Tina gave her a questioning look. Hermione's widened her eyes and jerked her head at the side of the window. Tina went and saw a small spider disappear through a gap in the wall. A _bug_.

Tina widened her own eyes now, and gazed openmouthed at Hermione. She pointed silently at Hermione's clenched fist and raised her eyebrows at her friend to be quiet sure. Hermione nodded vigorously. Tina clapped her hand to her mouth.

Ron came over, looking at the both of them suspiciously. Tina shook her head and put a finger to her lips, then pointed it at Harry. He was asleep, and once again, looked peaceful.

**

* * *

I truly cannot believe myself. One chapter—and it ain't shrot—in ONE DAY! Prize still stands for number 100…I realize I haven't given ample time, but still!**

Lemme know if ya want the note translated. I put more English words in there so it was sort of follow-able, that and I didn't know all the words I needed. Bengali's my main language, not Hindi; that I picked up from movies.

**THREE DAYS! THREE FREAKING DAYS!**

**Go Jim Dale! Poo the Today Show, and NBC for that matter, for getting us all on our toes, giddy and shaking with excitement hoping for one glimpse, one earful, one brief eclipse of the shadow that is HBP's upcoming entry into our lives. (i'm such a poet...wow) I woke up at 6:15…SIX FIFTEEN, and I sleep like Tina…to watch Jim Dale read a bit of "the new Harry Potter book". **

**But AAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHH I fell asleep at 1:30 this morning, woke up again at five, and I get WHAT! The chapter of OotP I've just read. Fat lot of good that's gonna do us as we gnaw our fingernails in spaz fits over the next three days. And what was up with all those six year olds sitting there? How many times does the world have to be told HARRY POTTER IS NOT JUST SOME CHILDREN'S BOOK. Half the kids there were looking in the other direction, bored or tired. **

**Venus725- **THREE DAYS! THREE DAYS! THREEEEE DAYS! This typing of the exclamation point, while refreshing, is getting hard. Glad you felt all the emotions int he chapter…hope you felt 'em here!

**Tikvah**** Ariel- **Glad you found it interesting; it was actually intriguing to write, because I mostly make them up as I write them. Yeah, the Terry thing, as you can see from the mysteriouslydeltedAuthorNote at the beginning of this chapter, was odd beyond words for me to write, but I felt the effect was at least somewhere near all right. Three days till the world rights itself. Let's hope we make it. I'm seriously doubting I will. Enjoy your sleep Friday night…I'll probably do the same, but not until I've freaked out at the bookstore PARTAY! I watched SS at 4:30, and PoA at ten that night; top of the park on a huge screen. Actually made it more bearable, too. I'M SO PSYCHED!

**Moonbugg****- **It's good to see you enjoying this view. The panic after they disappeared wasn't as hard to write, since you do get a view of that in the books. Yes, there are other people around when Harry comes back, but Tina doesn't feel them worthy of mention in her clouded mind's dull narration of everything. And what's more, Harry said the Voldemort thing to Dumbledore—even Tina and Hermione shouldn't've heard, but they were closest after Dumbledore. Also, most others would've just thought he was delusional after his absence. They did yell about Diggory's death into the night though…I think I put that in there…didn't I? I think your use of the word 'giggle'…made me giggle. Perhaps you've still got your review talent. Hey, I forgot to ask, what of the Daily Prophet Lonely Hearts! I do miss it; I'm thinking of going back to read a few issues this week so I don't _actually_ gnaw my fingernails to bits.

**Three more days till the world rights itself. Let's hope we make it; I'm doubting I will…**


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